Haylo: Crimson

Chapters

Detours, Detours, and De...stroying a Chair.
Interviews, Promises, and Ultimatums.
You're not alone.
Sadistic fun and Perverted threats.
Up on the roofto-BLAM.
Where was I, again...?
Storm's a'comin...
Invisible threats, and more drain bamage
Time for a Change in Perspective...
"Hell Jumpers got nothin' on us."
I'mma firin' mah LAZOR!!!
*Action Filler*
Returning to the End...or...Beginning? Eh, let's go with BOTH.
New Years and New Conspiracies...oh yes, THERE'S MORE.
.//HaCK..0UtS1D3 TRaN5M15s10N *(PLEASE READ, IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S EDIT!)*
My Little Acrobat! ~ahhhahhhahhahhahhhhh~
Prelude to the End
"The Part Where I Kill You. (This is it)"
Quick! We need reinforcements on the Fourth Wall!
Ain't no Rest for the Wicked
She's back in Crimson...literally!
Hidden Audio-Log: Diana (1)
Epilogue AKA It's never Over.
The End. The Beginning
Christmas (and flash-forward foreshadow) Special!

Detours, Detours, and De...stroying a Chair.

You know...there's a saying I heard from some of the higher-ups in the UNSC. It applies to everyone, and recently, everypony, incorporated into the Spartan Program:

"Spartans never die, they just go missing in action."

With my squad...we see this happen many times. That...dreadful cleanup of the Marker incident...oh yeah, we found A LOT of "MIA's" there, more or less. One personal incident of this was when Luna decided to bring US along to the first introduction of Ponykind to Earth. Apparently, many humans didn't think these "small and sugary" creatures had the right stuff to be considered allies in war with them. When we were picked for this, we had it in our minds that they just didn't like us, for, from what I've heard, humans are very judgmental and prejudice against that which they don't understand...what it turned out to be was that Luna wanted us to prove that we are probably the most badass Squad in the history of intergalactic warfare...

You know...now that I have this in mind, time to take a small detour. We'll get back to My little Psycho's origins soon, but first, time to hear about our first encounter with "civilian" humans.

"Tell me why we're here again...?"

We had arrived on Earth only a few minutes ago, and we found ourselves cruising down a "highway" (whatever that is...) through their City of New Mombasa, which was apparently a recently reconstructed city FILLED with war fanatics due to it's prolonged exposure to War. I sat quietly in my seat, full armor on, looking out of the window at the passing cars and structures...Celestia, everything was HUGE there...

"You're here to give humanity a good first impression of our fellow ponies." Luna answered curtly, glaring at my currently pissed partner.

"Why us!? Celestia knows the only first impression I give is by throwing somepony though a door!" Artemis snapped back, leaning out of her seat towards Luna with a scowl.

It was true, first time I formally met her, she threw me through a door...so there we sat: Me, a silent observer. Artemis, a pissed deviant (as to what kind...I'll leave that up to you). And Luna, a calm ambassador. We rode in a somewhat small limo, with Artemis and I side by side on the back seat, and Luna facing us on the other side. The Princess, at that moment, was in her Royal form, with her ethereal mane and tail, slightly larger physique, and glasses. Artemis and I, on the other hand, had full Armor on...well, I did, anyway. Artemis had take her helmet off and set it down on the floor so she could convey her full anger through her always unnerving eyes.

"You know, Arty..." Artemis twitched, forming somewhat of a snarl. She hated that name, "I never understood why you decided to alter your armor to those gloomy colors." Luna stated with a nonchalant wave of her hoof.

"First of all...PRISS," Artemis started, gripping her armrest tightly and clenching her teeth, "It's ARTEMIS, or ARI, IF you're part of my team! And second, black and crimson is LOADS more exciting than that drab olive Rookie wears."

I rolled my eyes behind my visor, chuckling inwardly. Those two always butt head whenever they're near eachother. It was always amusing.

"If you're going to break regulation like that..."

"Pfft, if? When don't I?" Artemis interjected with a snicker.

"...As I was saying...If you're going to break regulation," Luna continued, smirking, "It would have been MUCH better if you did this!" Luna's horn flashed as the entirety of Artemis' armor, including the helmet on the floor, suddenly swapped to one entirely covered by the Blue Scale, matching the color scheme of Luna's body, "There! Beautiful!"

Artemis stared down at her armor, mouth agape. She was in so much shock that all she could do was mutter incoherently, much to Luna's delight. When Artemis finally regained her composure, she went to snap at Lune, but the Princess beat her to it.

"Oh! Wait! I know what would suit you even BETTER!" with a clap of her hooves, her horn glowed once more as Artemis' armor again morphed. This time, though, instead of just a color change, the entire armor's shape morphed...into a skimpy two-piece which emphasized her waist and chest. While, as ponies, going clothesless isn't really a problem, skimpy clothing still creates an adequate air of awkward when in the right place...much like now, "Haha! Now the fun is doubled!" Luna burst into a fit of giggles at this.

I gave Artemis a skeptical stare as she stared down at her body. She was blushing like mad and could no longer form coherent sound. I soon realized that, as soon as she DID regain her thoughts, Luna would probably end-up a stain on the ceiling, so I leaned in and shoved the Princess, causing her spell to break and Artemis' armor to return to normal. The blue Goddess gave me a slightly annoyed stare, but I merely returned it with my own. Although she couldn't actually see me, she got the point and calmed down.

"Alright, that might have been a bit out of hand for me..." Luna admitted, "I guess I should apologize."

I nodded before turning to look out the window again, as we appeared to be heading into a tunnel. When I looked back, I noticed Artemis was about to let loose a torrent of shouts, but Luna, again, cut her off.

"Artemis, Rookie, listen..." her tone brought the mare to silence, "Whatever happens, you both have to promise me that you will NOT use deadly force, understand?"

"...wh...wha...?" Artemis asked, mouth agape.

"Just promise me this!" Luna shouted, suddenly urgent, "Alright?"

"I...don't? What?" Artemis was bewildered. This was so random!

Luna grabbed Artemis' ebony helmet and moved to force it on her, "Just do this for me, and I'll owe you guys." Artemis' eyes went wide when Luna got close to whisper something to her before placing the helmet the shocked mare. I, to this day, do not know what she said.

Suddenly, while the two mares were getting back into their seats, the car surged to the right, throwing Artemis into me and Luna's head into the window.

"Ow! Buck!" she complained, rubbing her head while holding tight to the armrest as the car swerved and shook...something exploding off to the side.

After Artemis shoved herself off of me, we looked out of the window to see that our escort had been blown up and replaced by some beaten-up red car.

"We're being ambushed!" Artemis shouted, trying to find her DMR, "Where'd it go!?"

"Artemis W. Crimson!" We both turned to see Luna's serious stare...it was more unnerving than Artemis' stare, "No. Lethal. Force."

We nodded slowly before I noticed that a human had leaned out of the red car and aimed a very BIG rocket launcher at us.

Now, I barely ever talk...not anymore. But this time...it was necessary, "Get the buck down!"

Artemis looked over and saw it as well, then quickly dove at Luna, pinning her to the bed and covering her as the rocket hit our car. The next few seconds are a blur...just fire, metal, pain, street, fire, and the definition of earsplitting loudness. After everything calmed down, my shield warnings were flashing and, probably, blaring in my ears...my hearing was ringing so I couldn't tell. Everything was blurry and I felt sore all over, I knew I would pass-out soon, but before going, though, I groggily looked around in time to see the unconscious forms of Artemis and Luna thrown into another red car by some more humans. From what I caught, they wore mainly black, tattered jackets, jeans, and...and...rainbow bandanas? The assailants drove off in a small squad of three red cars, leaving me covered within parts of the wrecked car...THEN, I passed out.

When I finally awoke, my vision was shrouded in flashing blue and red lights, the sounds of radio chatter and mumbling replacing the roaring vehicle fire from earlier. After regaining my bearings, I saw I was mostly buried underneath part of the wreckage, save for my head. Since my helmet looked similar to the car's design, the attackers probably didn't spot me, which is why they didn't take me as well.

Grunting in annoyance, I rolled over onto my stomach, planted my hooves, then roughly thrust my back up, sending the debris rolling off of me in a multitude of directions. After shaking my entire body and checking to make sure all systems were still operational, I noticed the shocked expressions on every single humans' faces. I guess the police weren't expecting to find a robotic-looking super-pony under all that debris...

"Did ya all see where m' friends went?" I asked the nearest officer. After receiving no response, I asked more, "Ya have any idea who coulda' done this, then?" the officer just continued to stare at me in shock...and it was starting to annoy me, "Wha? Meh accen' too diff'rent for ya?" I shook my head, groaning, "Fer-ge' it! I'll fin' em on mah own!"

Not waiting for any of them to overcome the shock of seeing me, I turned and started at a trot for the exit of the tunnel which the assailants took. As I went, though, I started to worry if the police might take action to try and detain me...but, if they did, I'm sure I would be able to evade them or fight them off. This thought in mind, I activated the waypoint beacons Ghost installed into all of our HUDs in case we ever got separated. I swear, that guy is a tracking and technological genius. After a few moments, a dark red waypoint with a distance marking of 30 kilometers appeared on my HUD pointing me to the south...from what I recalled, that would be near the Spartan Training Facility which I received my combat training in with the other ponies...so either we were attacked as part of a training exorcize, which would make sense from Luna's statements, or our assailants are just coincidentally based near home...either way, it's a long walk.

Since all of my experiences towards the Waypoint was nothing but awkward stares of shock and confusion from human pedestrians...I'll recount to you the information I gathered from Artemis and Luna after this whole mess was sorted out...when Artemis first awoke, she was tied to some old wooden chair in a dark room, with Luna in a similar position beside her...

So I wake-up, ya see, to find myself tied to a chair, in the most uncomfortable position I've EVER been in, I might add, and in some kind of basement, I guess. There was one light overhead, and it would flicker once in a while. Looking around the grimy room, I saw Luna, still unconscious and slumped over, tied to another chair across from me. Growling in anger for seeing her hurt, I looked around the room to find our assailants...but no one was present. Looking behind me as best I could, I tried to see what kind of rope had me tied. It looked like any normal rope...which gave me a very good idea on how to get out of there.

I waited patiently, pondering where my armor went, until a group of four humans entered from a door behind me. They all wore the same outfit: Black leather jacket, jeans, and a rainbow bandana...seriously? A rainbow bandana?...why? Just, why?

"So...who the buck are you chumps?" I asked with nod of my head.

The four all looked to eachother skeptically before turning back to me, the tallest of them stepping forwards, "We are, what the political big-heads would call, Anti-Pont radicals. Meaning, we don't like you...a lot."

I nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I've heard that humans are prejudice bastards. Makes sense."

The three subordinates grumbled angrily. I knew I hit a nerve there. Yet the leader remained calm, "Yes, well, you see...we just don't think having you frilly creatures as allies sets a good example as to our image..." now I gave him the skeptical look, "I mean, we're already fighting-off one of the most powerful armadas in the universe, and having some sugary ponies as allies will definately make us targets for races which are looking for easy targets to obliterate or take over, understand?"

I nodded again, "I see...so why go and capture us two? The ambassador of my race? Seriously? You guys are ganna get in some deep shit for this...in fact, you already are..."

"Hmm? We are already? How so?" the leader asked curiously.

I grinned darkly, "You see...I now realize why I was chosen for this mission." I lowered my head to hide my eyes from their view with my mane, speaking darkly, "You see...I'm, what some may call, a Wolfie...as in, my job in the UNSC, is to rip apart anything, anyone, and anypony, which I wish to die..."

"Tch, a little thing like you? Right." one of three subordinates shouted, enticing laughs.

"You're all lucky I made a promise to not kill anyone."

Without even giving them a second, I kicked the ground with one of my hooves and spun the chair in a 180 degree turn, coming to rest with my back to the four humans.

"What the f-"

As soon as I came to rest, I leaned forwards then bucked my body backwards, pushing offend ground with my hooves as hard as I could. I first collided with their leader, then I pushed through and plowed down the other three. It brought a smile of satisfaction to hear their grunts of pain...

"You!...get off!"

"Kay, one moment." I shook a bit more and rolled off of the pile of men and onto my back hooves, having to bend because of the chair tied to me, "Oh wait! Forgot to do one more thing!" as the four started to get up, I jumped and flipped, coming down with a crash as my chair shattered to pieces upon landing on them. Yeah, my back stung, but I'm sure they hurt more than I did.

Now that I was free, I causally stood back up and brushed myself off, noticing that the four were too sore to move, groaning in pain, "Sugary, Eh?" Leaving those pricks to writhe, I went to Luna and started to untie her, calling her name to wake her, "Luna. Luna! Princess...?" after I untied her, she started to fall forwards, but I caught her and propped her up in my shoulder, sighing, "Tch...heavy sleeper..." I took a breath before shouting in her ear, "OI, PRISS!"

She jolted awake with a start, jumping away from me with a shocked expression. I almost laughed at her wild look and crazy eyes...until she collapsed to the ground after yelping in pain. I ran to her side to find her clutching her right back hoof.

"Luna? Can you manage?"

She took a few calming breaths before staring up at me with a reassuring grin, "What? Just because I'm not a battle hardened soldier like you doesn't mean I can't handle a little pain?"

I rolled my eyes, stepping back while she stood up and brushed herself off, "Fine, fine. Fair enough, missy." I gestured to the four men groaning on the floor behind me, "What should I do with them?"

"Leave them, you've already punished them, it looks like." I shrugged, "So let's just get out of here and go to that Public Meeting, hmm?"

"Righty'o, bossmare."

Luna looked over her shoulder at me after picking up a piece of the broken chair, "Don't...ever say that again, please."

I winked, "No promises...bossmare..." Luna sighed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in annoyance, "Last one out owes the other a drink!" I shouted, charging past her and almost knocking her over with a laugh.

"Royalty does NOT take bets!..." she shouted after me, "...BUT YOU'RE ON!"

Interviews, Promises, and Ultimatums.

Crimson-3

Ugh! That Artemis...she always irked me...always. It seemed like her life's goal was to mess with me at all times...still...maybe she thought that's what I needed. When the war efforts started, I was no longer able to talk with Twilight or the others...especially since most of them were dead. Even my sister...she was first to leave me. I swear, sometimes I wish I could join the Spartan army, but I'm far too old, they tell me. Only foals were allowed to join, they said, but I think they forgot about my Immortality. Or maybe they didn't, and they just wanted to keep me out of the actual battles.

That was part of the reason I orchestrated this whole fiasco, more or less. I knew that there was a group radically opposed to our joining the Army, and I also knew that they'd jump at a chance to capture me or any of my subordinates, so, to at least prove my worth, as well as the worth of Artemis and the other Spartan-IVs, I purposely fell into their trap. I set-up the Public Meeting for the first public showing of the Spartan-IVs outside of battle to be right next to the Anti-Pony radicals so they would pull the stunt that they did, and I picked Artemis and her Rookie so that they could show those stupid radicals just how...tough, we are.

Actually, maybe picking Artemis wasn't the best idea...oh, um, sorry, Miss Halsey, I'll try not to stray to far from the subject anymore. I know you just want to hear how the inhibiting capabilities of the armor went, but...seeing as they TOOK her armor, it relied entirely on MY voice and actions to keep her in check. Plus, I don't think you could inhibit her sanity without also inhibiting her capabilities with your technology...yes, Ma'm, I'll be sure to send him in again. It's good to chat with you once in a while, but I have an important matter to set-up...are you recording this? Do you people record everything...? Right, sorry, hehe...

As I was saying, before you told me to get Luna in here...I was recalling how Artemis and Luna escaped, using facts I put together through what they told me afterwards...so on their way out, they ran into quite a few roadblocks...

"So, Prissy, ever been in a fight before?"

"Artemis, please don't call me that..." she grumbled, letting go of her piece of wood and letting it float using her magic, "You know, we could wait for my head to clear more and we could just teleport out of here, right?"

"What's the fun in that?" I responded stopping at a corner and holding her back while I peeked around it, "Besides, I want my armor back." I looked around the hallway ahead. The entire place was as cruddy and grimy as the room was, and just as dimly lit as well...meaning I could easily sneak around and take-down anyone in silence...but Luna had an injured hoof and would NOT be able to do that.

"You can get new armor..."

"I like my armor, though." I answered with a grin, noticing two humans exiting a doorway near the end, "Shoot!" I whispered, leaning back and covering Luna'a mouth with my other hoof to prevent her from making a noise.

"Mmf! Hmermf! Armfeshiss!!!"

"Sssshhhh!" I sneered, glaring at her before peeking around the corner again to see the two humans enter another room through a different door, "They're gone..." I turned back to Luna and let my hoof off her mouth, "What did you need to say so badly!"

"Your hoof was getting uncomfortably low, Miss Unrestraint!" she spat back, "...still is, too!"

She quickly stepped back while I looked down in embarrassment to see that the hoof I used to hold her back had fallen after all of the moving about and ended-up around where her...nevermind, moving on, it's not relevant!

I turned back to the corner, blushing too hard to want to show it to the little...anyway, after seeing no one was there, I motioned for Luna to follow me down the corridor. I kept ears and eyes open in case anyone else blocked our path. I didn't want to alert them of our escape until I at least found my armor, seeing as I wasn't allowed to use lethal force, it would be easier for one of them to harm me.

"Sooo...about that promise of yours..." I started, still refusing to turn around and face her, "If I manage to not kill anyone...will you really?-"

"Yes, I will." she cut me off, "I promise."

"Alrighty...I'm ganna have a hard time doing this, you know." I began again, peeking through a door tentatively.

"Artemis..."

"ESPECIALLY if you get hurt again." I cut off her angry rant, "M'ganna lose it." She was silent after that, "I think my armor's in here..." wait out here and shout if anything happens, okay?"

I turned to look at her and found she was nodding in understanding. I nodded once as well before entering the dark room. The lights were off, but I slid my hoof along the adjacent wall until finding a switch. With a flip, the light flickered on to reveal what I could best describe as a miniature heaven.

"By Celestia's beard..."

I could only marvel at the sheer epicness found in that room...especially since my armor happened to be stashed there. After taking a few minutes to take in the beautiful sights, I went for my armor and scrambled to put it on. Normally, it's a very lengthy process that involves a LOT of specific maneuvering of pieces...which is why my favorite Technician rigged the pieces to meld and lock together on it's own through an AI he coded a while back. That guy was a prodigy...sucks his talent is wasted on something as sick as war...I feel bad for him...

A couple of minutes later, while I overlooked my armor to make sure it was all in place, I heard a thwack of wood on skin outside the door. Quickly grabbing my helmet and charging out of the door, I made it out just in time to see Luna throw some human over her shoulder while pummeling a guy behind her with the stick she had in a levitation hold.

"Damn...Prissy got skill." I laughed, seeing more humans hastily turning the corner at the end of the hallway. In them was the four from the room we were tied in...except this time, they had guns.

The leader started to shout orders as they all pulled their pistols and rifles up, "Safety off, gentlemen! But make sure the blue one doesn't die!...as for the black one..."

"Luna! Run, now!" I ordered as I quickly shoved my helmet on, running towards her while she ran to me, "Sons of bitches..." I grumbled, the sound of my Overshield charging up.

"Kill her!"

I quickly dashed in front of Luna and spread my fore hooves to defend her from all possible fire. Looking at the energy meter for my shield, I saw that it was QUICKLY falling. Luckily for me, these were rounds no where near as powerful as what the armor was designed to defend against. Looking over my shoulder in time to see Luna zip around the corner, I quickly dove and rolled out of the spray of ammo, taking refuge behind the opened door to the room my armor was stashed in.

"Buck me, 'NO LETHAL FORCE!'" I shouted angrily, cringing as part of the door exploded from an apparent shotgun burst, "And there's a whole ARMORY in this damn room, too!" I complained, at least somewhat grateful for my recharged shields, "Fine, fine! FINE!" I looked down the hall to see Luna looking at me in fear, "Find an exit! I'll draw all the attention to me! You're the VIP here, and I'm just the grunt!" she seemed to hesitate, not wanting to leave me, so I removed my helmet and have her a big, toothy, grin, "I'll be fine, PRISS, and I expect my reward after I get out of here!"

She nodded and ran off down the hall, so I put my helmet back on and peeked around the corner, noticing that the shooting had subsided...and immediately wished I didn't, "...Really?"

"RPG, out!"

"IN A SMALL HALLWAY!?" I jumped to my hooves and scrambled down the hallway towards my attackers. All of them instantly raised their weapons again, "You are all bucking IDIOTS!"

First, the tube sparked, then, the rocket exploded out and zipped straight to me. In all honesty, I could have knocked it away, but seeing as I was in a cramped hallway, that would have accomplished nothing, so, I jumped over it instead. The instant I landed, though the rocket collided with the wall at the other end of the hallway, kicking up dust and debris so thick I couldn't see. Amiss the dirt, the sound of a roof collapsing reached my ears, 'Idiots...'

Taking my mind off of the terrible durability of this building, as well as the idiocy of those humans, I tapped my visor and it switched to thermal vision, red, yellow, and green popping up within the fog, "Alright, bullets, verses hoof..."

I took note of each and every enemy form, my eyes darting around as adrenaline kicked in...ah, one of my most favorite of moments in life...when your heart pumps, you blood surges, and searing adrenaline pushes you to go beyond the possible...especially as a Spartan!

Dashing into the fray, I slid to a halt beside the nearest crony, sweeping his legs and catching his arm before twisting and grinning at the sound of a sickeningly pleasurable snap and scream. Of course, this alerted the others of my attack...but due to the dust, they couldn't see me. They still had to shield their eyes from all the dirt in the air!

"The black one's in the dust! Find her!"

'Good luck.' I sneered mentally before subconsciously flipping backwards and planting lower hooves into someone else's back. He, in turn, bumped into someone else who then proceeded to knock him clean out with the but of his rifle.

"Crap! Kev! So sorry!" For one moment, the dust cleared from the rifleman's view to me, "Sir! She'a eight h-eeck..."
I must have looked pretty darn intimidating in my armor since he seemed to freeze-up in fear.

"Nice rifle...I'd take it, but I'm not allowed."

He eventually regained his senses and aimed down at me again, but the dust had blocked his view again and I had moved, so all he shot was a wall.

"Sir, screw this! Just get out of the dust!"

"Oh no you don't!" turning upon one of the three four remaining men, I delivered I powerful backhand to his stomach. He fell with a weak gasp, the air whooshing out of him.

"John's right! We can't defend ourselves in this!" turning back around, I saw the last three running away, the slowest being the one that shot the rocket at me. I was about to just leave them and try to catch up to Luna, but I had to keep the entire facility distracted somehow, so...remembering the rocket, I had an idea, "Get your sorry flanks back here!" I shouted, running out after them on just my back hooves.There's never been a need to switch to all fours when chasing humans...they're all just too SLOW!

So, while Artemis was...well, having fun, Luna was trying to avoid detection while the entire building was in a panic. Also at the same time, I was still making my way towards Artemis' waypoint, which, obviously, had started moving since she put her armor on. I was close, though, only about a hundred meters away. I could see the building in the distance, and I could even identify a marker a ways away which I remember to be near Boot Camp. As I trotted closer, I noticed a lot of commotion going on in and around the building, there was even an explosion, probably the RPG which was shot at Artemis.

Of course, there were a couple more explosions later, probably thanks to her "distraction." But all of that is irrelevant to your purposes. You wanted to know how Luna made it out, correct? Before I continued, may I ask what you need this information for...really, now? So is this FOR her augmentation, or AGAINST?...right, yes Ma'm...continuing with the recollections...Luna had made it near the exit only to he blocked by...oh, about twenty guards sent to make sure she didn't make it out...

'Great...'

I had managed to keep out of sight all the way here, the exit, only to be blocked at the very last moment...by twenty some guards, no less! I thought I was at an insurmountable blockade, starting to turn back to find a different exit, but then I remembered that, in the time to took me to REACH this point, my head had clear Ed enough to use upper-level magic, mainly, teleportation. Of course, I wouldn't be able to go far, but I would definitely be able to make it beyond the door...but...I remembered the whole reason for DOING this.

"Alright...they don't think we, neigh, they don't think I have what it takes to fight." I started, really only talking to myself, "Time to show them how much of a NIGHTMARE I can be!"

Taking one, last, calming breath, I slowly made my away around the corner, focusing my magic on my physical form. It didn't take long for most of the guards to notice me, taking up their rifles and pistols.

"There's the VIP! Remember, nothing lethal! We need her ALIVE!" one of the men shouted as each an every one loaded and locked their weapons.

"You speak as though you've already caught me..." I muttered, closing my eyes and allowing my form to shift, "Neigh, you speak as though you've caught US! But actually, it is WE, who have caught YOU, FOALS!"

With a blinding flash, I once again donned the battlements of Nightmare Moon!

You're not alone.

It was again that time of year for Thanksgiving, and everyone and everypony was getting ready for the feast that was being put together by the more cooking-talented of the local regiment. All of the humans and ponies who had bonded over the time in battle with one another were celebrating their thanks to be partnered with eachother...and to be alive, for that matter. The whole scene was just...beautiful...well, except for one squad in particular.

"What do I have to be thankful about? Everyone I've ever loved DIED, remember?"

"Agreed. I could say I'm thankful for getting to kill some guys without lawful repercussions, but I don't think that counts."

Both females in Crimson Team seemed to not like the idea of a day of thanks...okay, actually, they just outright hated it.

"Girls, come-on! I'm sure you can think of something to be thankful for!" Ryan, AKA "Ghost," had been trying to bring them into the mood of the day since they woke up. Of course, the Rookie helped as well, but he never talked and always remained in full armor, helmet and all. All he really did was nod in agreement.

"Like what?" both girls asked skeptically, eying their partner questioningly.

You see, Ryan's sister, Reyna, was called "Widow" because everyone she tried to love ended-up dying in some way. This being so...she thought of everything in a cynical and pessimistic manner. Her general appearance also carried that of a Black Widow spider which the term "Widow" derives from. Long black hair, thin body structure in general, and piercing maroon eyes. Today, her attire was black-camo cargo pants, black boots, and a red tank top.

Ryan froze-up, grinning awkwardly, "Er-uhmm..."

"And don't say 'Be thankful to be alive!' or I'll rip your arm off." Artemis threatened.

Ryan and the Rookie both looked to eachother knowingly. They had known practically from day one together as a squad that both their superior officers would rather be dead than fighting this war, so they were really ALWAYS hard to cheer up.

"We're waiting..." the two girls annoyingly coerced.

Ryan thought quickly and came-up with a way that might at least cheer his sister up, "Well...ya got me, sis!" he exclaimed stepping up and wrapping an arm around his older sibling's shoulder, "Huh?"

She looked away from her brother at this, uncrossing her arms and actually SMILING, "Well..."

Artemis' jaw hit the ground while Ryan grinned widely.

Ryan, contrary to his nickname, "Ghost," wasn't ghostly in appearance at all. He had very tan skin (as opposed to his sister's somewhat pale), bright blue eyes, and short, straight black hair. That day, he chose to wear some jeans, tennis shoes, and a blue t-shirt.

"See, listen, why don't we go around the encampment and see what else we can find to cheer you up!" without waiting for a response, he started leading his sister away. When he passed the Rookie, he leaned in close and whispered, "Try to show the mare a good time will ya? Take her on a date or something!"

The Rookie jumped in shock, turning to watch Ryan and Reyna walk off before looking back to Artemis...and nearly die from a heart attack.

She had regained her composure and was now glaring daggers of ice into his soul...he really hoped she couldn't smell fear, or else he would reek like week-old fish.

"So...you have anything to say to try and cheer me up?" she asked with a somewhat angry sigh. The Rookie gulped and drew a blank, shaking his head no, "Figured as much..." Artemis turned and went to leave, "If you'll excuse me, I'll be hanging myself..."

The Rookie was bit worried she was serious, but figured she was too chivalrous to commit suicide and decided to sit there in hopes of coming-up with a way to bring her spirits up...

"Oh Celestia..." Luna murmured, staring blankly at her ceiling, "Tia...I wish you were still here..."

So far, the Princess had accomplished nothing but brooding over how sad this day made her. While it was meant to make one enjoy and cherish all they have, it only made her miss what she lost, "I could visit Twilight and Fluttershy..." she muttered, "But all that would do is make me think of Tia..."

She had received an invitation from Twilight a few days ago asking her to come visit them for a small party celebrating the day, but...Luna just wasn't up to it. While it would have been great to see her sister's pupil again, that was just the problem: Her SISTER'S pupil.

"What are we thankful for? Family? Nope," Luna sneered, rolling over onto her side, "All dead. Friends? Nope, almost all dead. Life? Nope, I'm in a WAR." Luna rolled to her other side, scowling, "Good health...? I'm immortal! That doesn't even count!" she groaned, practically flailing about in the covers, "Is there a friend I have that won't remind me of my sister, maybe...?" she pondered, placing a hoof to her chin in thought, "There's always those three foals who made it their life's goal to find cutie marks..." she started, but then instantly wiped the idea after remembering HOW they finally found their marks: War, "No...hmm...maybe Pip...I know his squad always LOVES to see me...well, two of them do, anyway." she laughed slightly, rolling her eyes, "The other two are just 'graced by my presence,' since they're not ponies." Luna sat up, coming to the resolve that she would visit Pip to cheer herself up. And who knows? Maybe by the end of the day she'll feel good enough to visit Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Off I go..."

She was gone in a flash...literally.

"Hmm...maybe I can steal a Saber and go find some Covenant ship to attack...that'll be fun."

Artemis pondered her options on tackling the depressing mood she was in at the time. All of them included something illegal or bloody...mostly both.

"I COULD molest people and ponies some more, but that's getting a bit boring..."

"OI! Ar'emis!"

"Hmm?" Artemis fell out of her trance and leaned out over the edge of the rock she was sitting on. Down below was her Rookie, with another familiar mare beside him.

"You got a bi'-o comp'ny!" the Rookie shouted again, motioning towards the regal blue mare beside him.

"Well-well! Miss Priss? To what do I owe the honor?" Artemis replied sarcastically, rolling onto her stomach and blankly peering down at the pair.

"I came to spend some time with my...most interesting Squad, but the Smiths are busy and your Rookie here told me you were feeling down." Luna shouted up, "You should let us talk to you..."

"What? And tell me how I should be thankful for crap?" Artemis shook her head, "Buck that."

Luna told the Rookie to leave and go enjoy the feast that was starting while she convinced "Her Little Hatefulness" to brighten-up...somehow.

Artemis rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, trying to block-out the noise. This was going well, until the ping of magic caused her to open her eyes and end-up face-to-face with the annoyed eyes of the blue Goddess.

"Whoa!" Artemis jumped and squirmed a bit, scooting out from under her slightly.

"Listen to me for once!" Luna shouted.

"No!" she spat back, rolling out from under Luna and standing with her back to her.

"Artemis, all you've ever done with me is argue and yell!" Luna shouted, to no avail, "And all you've EVER presented yourself to be is a...a..." Luna saw Artemis was ignoring her, so she added magic to her TRADITIONAL EQUESTRIAN VOICE, "COLDHEARTED, SELF-INDULGING, MANIAC WHO'S LIFE GOAL IS TO PISS ME, THE BUCK, OFF!"

With the addition of the Traditional Equestrian Voice, the message was hard to miss...especially since the sheer force behind the voice nearly blasted the ebony mare off of the rock.

"Oh...my..." Artemis stammered, her ears ringing slightly.

Luna cut her voice off and returned it to normal, advancing on the soldier mare somewhat menacingly. She was hell-bent on ending this whole farce with Artemis there and then, "You just try your hardest to pick at my nerves, mess with my head..." Luna continued, to which Artemis started to back away slowly, actually scared of this totally pissed princess, "But you know what, think I know why, and I think I know how to fix your bucked-up attitude..."

Artemis gulped, grinning sheepishly, "Wh...what would that b-be?"

"The entire time you've projected yourself to be just a huge, sadistic jerk...but you're just scared."

Artemis did a double take, her mind blown, "What? You're kidding, right?"

"You're scared to forge a relationship with anyone or anypony, Artemis, I see that now." Luna continued, her voice becoming passionate, "You shun all because you're afraid you'll come to miss them when they inevitably die."

"He-hey now! Who ever said I-"

"Shut up and just listen for once, Artemis!" Luna interjected, "I already know what your game is! No point in hiding it from me!"

"Oh, you think you know me? Hmm?" Artemis' composure quickly rebound, her eyes showing seething anger, "To be shunned and hated for having an odd set of teeth and cutie mark? For liking something abnormal?" she stepped up, going, almost literally, nose-to-nose with Luna in a glare-down, "Or to stand by as your family gets GLA-" Artemis cut herself off, her eyes going wide in shock as she realized exactly what she was saying, "Wait...you're trying to level with me, aren't you?" she whispered, "You DO know what all of that feels like..."

It was true. Luna had her fair share of shunning and fear. She was, after all, Nightmare Moon: Symbol of all that is dark and evil, lover of the Moon and Night. Adding to that...she really could do nothing but watch as Canterlot, along with her sister, was incinerated by the Covenant.

"So Artemis, just stop hiding from me, if anypony, and have a soul for once, please?" Luna bit her lip, feeling a bit embarrassed about continuing on. She knew the ebony mare had some less than appropriate thoughts about Luna, so the next thing she said could have been taken the wrong way or a bit too far, "I mean, I care about you...seeing as you're probably one of my last friends or family I'll have for the next millennium..."

Artemis just couldn't take it anymore. She made it her life's goal to never forge anything resembling a friendship. Comrades were a given, it was war, but nothing more. No love, no compassion, no legitimate feelings of any kind for anypony or anyone else...because to her, friends are only made to die, just as she only lives to die. She just didn't want to have anything to hold her, because when you have nothing, you lose nothing, and nothing can hurt you. That was how she lived, and how she wanted to die.

"Luna...I'm scared..."

Artemis collapsed there, but Luna caught her and gently laid her down, holding her as the ebony mare reduced herself to a scared little filly, shaking.

"You always just wanted to die, now I'm going to give you reasons to live." Luna said sternly, "You will make friends other than myself, Ari, and you'll become a better pony for it. I will give you something to be thankful for, my little pony."

Every day, we live our lives, not remembering why we do what we do. It's all just a simple process of meeting end's need and making it to bed at night. But, on that rare occasion, we recall the reasons for all of our strife and hard work, the reasons for which we live. It is on those beautiful moments which we truly feel thankful for what we have, and cherish the memories of what we lost. It is on these moments which the ties that connect us come into full light and strengthen, even if it's just enough to hold us for the next, rare moment.

Life is meant to be lived, and not just for the purpose of living, but for others, for eachother.

Happy Thanksgiving everypony. Go hug your dad, tell your mom you love her, and kiss the one you love, because remember:

You're not alone

Sadistic fun and Perverted threats.

Crimson-4

So, what exactly did Artemis do to distract them? Well...if you remember, she said something about noticing the RPG...

I chased those idiots down the halls, quickly gaining on them. They appeared to disregard to their needy friend with the RPG, as carrying it was slowing him down and the other two ignored his calls for help. I almost felt bad for the guy...but he DID shoot a rocket at me, so...I got over it. He must have known I was close, because he suddenly stopped, yelling as he turned around, pulled out a pistol, and fired at me wildly while shouldering the RPG. I ignored every shot, letting my shield absorb the bullets while I continued to charge down at him.

I planted a hoof, cocked back a punch, grinned manically behind my visor and shouted, "Night-night!" before sending him to the ground with a severe headache. Once he was out cold, I hefted-up the RPG with a grin and slowly began to walk towards a ladder which led to the roof. I was going to make sure that there WAS no roof by the time I finished-up.

"Attention all personnel! We have a Spartan-IV within our walls! She is attempting to hunt down some of our members! If you spot her, KILL HER. Do NOT hesitate!"

"The hell!? Where did that come from? This cruddy place has a speaker system!?" I shouted in confusion, continuing to climb, with only three hooves I might add, "That's a surprise...and seriously? No deliberation? Just kill on sight?" I groaned, "And here I am, not allowed to kill anyone!"

Once I reached the roof, I threw the RPG over first, then hopped up with it...to find myself face to face with an entire army of armed humans ready to make me into Swiss cheese.

"Hey! That's the pony! Kill the bitch!"

I recognized the voice...it was the guy who led the first group I met while I was tied to a chair! I sneered, narrowing my eyes as clicks and chinks filled my ears from every direction.

"Well...shit."

The first line of men opened fire, while the back few lines waited for the first line to have to reload. I jumped and dove out of the center of fire, a few bullets clipping my shields here and there, but nothing devastating. Immediately after sliding to my hooves, I sprinted towards the army, intending to take them all out as fast as possible. Since there was no cover, I had no choice but to go in, guns'a blazing!...figuratively speaking, anyway.

"Mark!"

The first row stepped back while the second row stepped forwards to continue the spray of lead, not giving me the chance to recover. I had to hand it to them, that was pretty smart, but not enough to take me out.

"Mark this!" I shouted, coming close enough to the first row to begin my..."counter-attack."

"Oh Crap!"

I almost laughed at the look of fear the human directly in front of me made as I jumped a foot off the ground in front of him before delivering a round-house kick to his chest. He was knocked a couple meters back, plowing through some ranks behind him while the rest of the shooters ceased fire, not wanting to cause any friendly fire.

"Hmm...looks like over fifty?" I whispered, "Against one?" I raised my head and laughed, and judging by the amount of humans that started to step back...it must have been a pretty bucking scary laugh!

"BRING IT ON!"

I dashed immediately into the fray, sliding and knocking a man off his feet before flipping onto my hooves beside another human. In fear, he swung his rifle at me wildly, which I ducked under, sweeping his legs out and flipping him over my back. Before he hit the ground, though, I grabbed his leg and swung him in a full circle, clipping another human, before sending him flying and smashing through about four more people. This was only the beginning and I was already having SO MUCH FUN, HAHAA!

"Who's next, hm!?" I twisted my neck around, cracking a few bones while putting on an imitating act for those that were still standing.

"She's a demon! This is insane!" I heard a man shout, bringing a smile to my muzzle.

"Demon...that's...not the first time I've been called that." I started to slowly and menacingly approach the standing men, licking my lips in anticipation, "Now I suggest you all get off this roof, and out of this building before I get too excited!" All of them hesitantly looked to eachother and the ladder off the roof while I continued to approach them, "Better choose fast!"

About half of them immediately threw their rifles aside and scrambled for the ladder. A couple tripped off the edge, a few others were PUSHED off, one just up and jumped off, and, I think three, actually climbed down. The rest of the men on the roof raised their rifles again.

"You've seen how ineffective those are." I sighed, shaking my head in disapproval, "Why bother! You must realize by now that us ponies aren't as weak as you thought!"

"She's right!" a new, yet somehow assured sounding voice called-out, causing every human to look back to the ladder, "Get out of here. I'll handle her from here on."

I looked past the few humans left to find what looked like a Spartan-III stepping up from the ladder. But something was different...his armor didn't exactly fit UNSC standards...I mean, mine didn't either, but his was even more different. He had similar armor in structure to the Mk-VI, but the paint was mostly black with yellow detail.

"Who are you? Whoa..." he had a BR shouldered on his right, a Grenade Launcher in his left hand, and two Assault Rifles attached to his back, "That's a lot'a power..."

He nodded in my direction, "Call me Washington."

"Wh...what the hell!? What is this thing!?"

Nightmare Moon...she used to be the embodiment of hatred and revenge. On that day, she would be the symbol of...well, to put it bluntly...just how badass we ponies are.

"Now...We'll be taking THOSE!" we...er...I shouted, forcing all of the humans' weapons out if their hands and disassembling them all into their individual pieces and parts using magic.

"H-how-!?"

"SILENCE!!!" I hissed, flapping my wing with magic emphasizing both. Some of the humans fell over from the shockwave I must have created, "It has come to our attention that you all think we are unfit to fight alongside you in battle!" I leaned in, sneering at each individual, "And this is VERY displeasing to us...so...either EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOALS apologizes immediately, or..."

Now...I HATE making threats...but when you're a Princess, foreign dealings becomes a priorty, and threats plays a major role in creating treaties sometimes...

"We peel back your 'layers,'" with a flash of my horn, the clothing on every human was ripped off, "until all that is left is bones!" I looked around the room, noticing that the only response given was a blank stare back, "Understand...?" no movement...ugh, "We said...UNDERSTAND!?"

Every human jumped and started to back backing out of the door, bowing a apologizing in an awkward and hasty manner. I almost cracked up laughing, but I held my expression, hitting my lower lip until the last human left and the door closed.

"...fffBWAAAHAHAAAH!" the looks on their faces! It was just TOO priceless! I was beginning to see why Artemis took so much joy in scaring everypony constantly. I shifted back into my Royal form, wiping years out of my eyes as I calmed down, "Wow...oh wow...can't wait to tell this one." I trotted out of the door, head held high to find the Rookie looking back at the army of naked humans run away in fear...he must've just arrived, "Oh, hello."

He looked to me, then back to the army, and again at me, probably with a look of total confusion behindthat visor, "Oi, Princess...wha' the 'ell was that!?"

"Oh, nevermind it. But we'll probably be in the clear as to the Anti-pony radicals' attempts to keep us away." I giggled a bit at the memory of only a few moments ago,
"Now...we have to hope Artemis makes it out okay..." I added worriedly, looking back to the door.

"Oh...hmm..." the Rookie paused for a moment, checking his visor, I think, "'Er waypoint's righ' up th-"

Before he finished, an explosion centered on the roof erupted, throwing debris and dirt in every direction...

Up on the roofto-BLAM.

After I found-out about that Washington human, I knew there was something that needed the UNSC's attention, regarding that so called "Freelancer" project Ghost had discovered...wait, what? It has already been taken care of...? Then why is...? Oh, I see...he's one of the last ones? The rest are dead? Well that's a relief! So what happened to Artemis up there...I understand you want to see how your Spartan-IV's fared against rival technology. I'll recount it in her words...that'll work best.

"Washington? What the buck kind of name is that?"

The mysterious soldier casually made his way across the roof while the rest of the unarmored humans carefully made their way OFF the roof.

"It's a long story, and I really hate recalling it." he answered, "The whole mess was just too stupid..."

I shrugged, starting to walk closer to him as well. I just had this feeling that he would give me a good run...there was just SOMETHING about him...

"How about you owe me an explanation after I kick your flank, then?" I proposed, grinning smugly behind my visor.

"And when I pound your visor into the floor, you give me that armor of yours." he countered, coming to a stop about ten meters away.

"What'cha got against Ponies? And why do you need my armor?" I asked curiously, stopping as well and cocking my head to the side.

"Strictly business. Nothing personal." he explained, "Honestly, I'm only helping these guys 'cuz, after my last...'job,' I'm broke."

"Fair enough...and I'm only in this war 'cuz I love blood." I took a battle-ready stance, grinning widely behind my visor while he pulled up his BR and swapped his Grenade launcher for one of the Assault rifles.

"You remind me so much of some...thing I killed recently...well, I didn't kill it, per say, but I helped." he said before taking uncannily accurate aim with his BR, firing from the hip and landing two full bursts right on my head before I was able to dash out of the way.

'Buck, he's good!' I screamed mentally, glad I had those shields, 'OH BUCK ME!' he's obviously had more years of actual battle than me, as he had followed me with the Assault rifle and was already chipping away at my shields again before they could recover. I quickly starting at a sprint to the right, shouting, "Buck, you got good aim!"

"Why thanks." he ceased fire and flipped his Assault rifle above his head, grabbing a clip of ammo for it while continuing to shoot bursts at me with the BR. I dodged all of them, making my shield recharge a priority at that moment, but I still couldn't help but be impressed as he slammed the ammo clip into his Assault rifle and caught it in one swift motion, then proceeded to open fire on me with that so he could repeat the process with the BR.

'I'm ganna need a plan of attack, or else this guy's going to mop the floor with me...' I thought sheepishly, groaning inwardly at myself, 'Wish I had a gun, damnit!'

"Come on! I know you can do better than this!" he mocked, "Maybe you're not as tough as I thought!"

"I'm a little out-gunned, here!" I complained.

"Then improvise!"

'Is he...TRYING to get me to win...?' I thought, darting my eyes around to look for ANY inspiration while he continued his cycle of shooting and reloading. After about ten minutes of this running, I started to wonder just how much ammo he was carrying in that pouch of his...and I also realized that there was nothing on that flat roof to use. I could've used the RPG if it wasn't by his feet. Eventually, I decided to do something...drastic, "Fine! You want improv? Here ya go!"

I slid before flipping, un latching my helmet while upside down, then I pitched the large mass of metal at him upon landing. I rolled backwards, unable to stay upright from the throw, but I caught a glimpse of the impact. It hit him square in the face, his head reeling backwards while he dropped the Assault rifle. Upon rolling back to my back hooves, I was able to see him begin to rebalance himself, but I took this chance to get in close where his weapons would become his enemy instead of his ally.

"That was probably..." he raised his BR to block the first punch I threw, "...the BEST throw..." I quickly spun and backhanded his arm, knocking away the BR, "...ever..." before I could deliver a punch to his stomach, though, he sidestepped out of the way win a spin, grabbing his Grenade launcher off his back in the process, then slammed said weapon into the back of my now unprotected head, "...of all time."

Everything went dark for a few moments, but I could feel my body airborne for a moment before hitting the ground face-first. Once my eyesight came back, albeit somewhat blurry, I immediately started to push myself back up. With a HUGE pounding headache, though, that was a bit hard to do.

"Well, while I admit that little helmet trick was neat, that wasn't much of a fight." he scoffed, "Is that really all?"

I gritted my teeth, pushing what seemed my hardest to get back up, "Buck...you..."

"Buck...?" he questioned before laughing, "Oh I get it."

Yelling with an extreme amount of exertion, I did exactly what I said I would. I bucked him right in the chest. With a whoosh of air from his lungs, he flew backwards at least twenty meters before sliding to a halt on his feet five more meters back, holding his chest and stomach while bending over in pain, "Oh deer GOD that hurt!" he wheezed, coughing.

I finally made it back to a standing position, rubbing the back of my head and wincing from the sore bruise he left, "Good...but to be fair I did warn you."

"Gah...true..." he coughed a few more times before straightening up, reaching back and grabbing the other Assault rifle since he dropped the Grenade launcher while sailing through the air.

I looked down and grabbed the first Assault rifle, which he dropped when I hit him with my helmet, grinning and hefting it up onto my shoulder, "Full clip too...won't last too long, but thanks anyway!" I laugh, noticing the clip counter was at full on the AR's heads-up display.

"Right..." he murmured before starting a steady jog in my direction, opening fire in short, controlled bursts.

Since an entire set is required for the shield systems to work, I could no longer rely on my armor to protect me, so I dashed and evaded each burst, returning fire when I could in equally controlled bursts. Unsurprisingly, he evaded every shot as well...he must not have a shield like the Spartans did...

We both ceased fire only about a foot from eachother, rifles clicking as we pulled the triggers a few times and steadily aimed at eachother's faces. Looking down, I saw I was out of ammo, "Well...looks like I'm out." I stated calmly, staring him straight in the visor.

"Same here..."

We both stayed like that for a few seconds, not wanting to make the first move, but eventually, I just couldn't stand there any longer...got too bored. So I shifted forwards, planting a hoof onto his foot before shouldering his gut. We both tumbled head over hooves, but he shoved me off and we rolled back to a standing position a couple feet away, staring at eachother while gripping our empty Assault rifles.

"Heh, you sure know how to show a mare a good time!" I laughed, taking a huff and realizing this was becoming tiresome.

"Glad you got into the swing of things. Would've been boring if it ended earlier." he complimented, straightening up and motioning for me to come at him, "Let's get this over with."

"Righty-o!" I kicked off, sprinting at him with my rifle trailing behind me, ready to throw.

Of course, when I did throw it, he knew what to expect and swerved out of the way, but while he was distracted, I had gotten close enough to make the first attack. I grinned in satisfaction upon hearing his grunt of pain as I slammed a hoof into the side of his ribcage.

"Erng, nice trick!" he grunted again after taking another hoof to his stomach.

"Than-" I was cut off rudely by a sweep of the legs, floating for half a second before landing with a thud on my back.

After grimacing, I was able to just barely dodge the butt of his rifle, swerving my head to the side at the last second.

"Damn!" he shouted, preparing to step back as he was kneeling over me, but...I quickly snapped a hoof up, kicking him right in the down-lows!

"Gwoof!" he hopped backwards, stumbling and clutching at the new bruise while I stood up and brushed myself off, "That was cheap..." he wheezed out.

"All's fair."

"You remind me so much of Tex right now, it's uncanny..." he muttered, jumping around a bit as the pain subsided.

"Who...?"

"Nevermind, let's go."

Without warning, he ran at me again, so I hastily put up a defensive stance, preparing to counter whatever he threw at me. He came within range and sent a jab for my face, but I swerved out if the way. Unfortunately, he swung his rifle at me, holding it by the barrel, and accomplished delivering yet another blow to the back of my head before I even knew what happened.

Again, I blacked out, then woke up a few seconds later with my face on the ground. I swear, I don't know how I managed to got out of that bithout drain wamage...what...? What's with the looks? Anyway...once I came to, I realized that the pain in the back of my head was still there, and BOY IT HURT LIKE A BITCH.

"Tsssssss! AHG! BUCK!" I curled up on the ground, holding the back of my head and grimacing in pain, "BUCK BUCK BUCK!"

"Well, looks like you're in some pain. Give up?" he asked, huffing from all the exertion as he stood over me.

"I...Gah, buck...don't ever give up..." I spat back, rolling backwards onto my back hooves again...only to stumble and almost fall back down as a wave of nausea passed over me and my eyesight flickered, "Wh-hooao."

"Either you give up, or go into comatose." he pointed out, aiming the Grenade launcher he must have picked back up at me again, "Or worse."

My eyes darted around for anything I could use to defend myself...but the only thing I found was the RPG, which I had luckily ended up only a few feet away from. Still...I was handicapped and he had another explosive weapon aimed at me...the adrenaline was really kicking in now. In fact, mixed with the severe head trauma, I almost blacked out, swaying slightly with a dazed look.

As I fell, my dazed stare changed to a sly grin, "Try me."

I used the slight delay from the fake falling to my advantage, having a head start for the RPG. He fired at me, though luckily he missed, albeit barely, and the grenade exploded a few feet behind me.

"Crap!"

I rolled, diving for the RPG at the end of the tumble, and grabbed it, thanking Luna that it was still primed to fire another rocket. Quickly dropping straight into a kneeling stance from the tumble, I aimed at Washington, who had just finished reloading another grenade and, in turn, aimed at me...at least, I think...everything was fuzzy...both my vision at that time AND the memory...Gah, my head hurts talking about it!...anyway...

Everything seemed to go slowly from there...he fired first and I watched the grenade sail out of the barrel a few feet. Then I fired second, almost falling from the force exerted by the RPG. After that...the two explosives collided in mid air, and, I swear, I thought I could see the metal casing of the rocket bend and collapse just before the resulting explosion sent me sailing, knocked out my vision, and blew my eardrums to Canterlot.

For the next couple of moments, all I felt was burning and flying...then it abruptly ended with aloud thud and a sickening crack...that's when I stopped feeling anything and everything altogether.

Where was I, again...?

As far as that whole "battle" is concerned, Ma'm, I believe Artemis won...yes, she nearly died, and yes, Washington escaped, but to be fair, Artemis had not had the same amount of field experience as him. If the playing field was equal...she could have easily beaten him. Y...I...yes!...Sorry, I know, I know my opinion doesn't really count here...how about Luna's? I know she agrees with me.

...I agree with Pip, Miss Halsey.

Told you. Now this whole transition in and out if the room was a big waste of time...right, right, whatever. I'll continue with the debrief. Guess I can go back to Equestria now...are you sure you don't want to hear about her recovery from the fight with Washi-o-okay! Sorry!...so back at Equestria...

Only about a mile outside of Ponyville, two agile combatants were fighting it out for the sake of life...or death. One was a battle hardened, quick-footed soldier, who had defeated and out maneuvered many an enemy...and the other was a young filly. Contrary to what you may think, this filly was actually holding her own in the fight...actually, she was doing more than that, she was winning!...and having fun in the process!

"Hehe...heh...hahahaaah!"

The Skirmisher scrambled back to it's feet after being slammed across the face by a black hoof yet again. This was insanity! How could this mare know so much about combat? Nopony obviously taught her, she was still in school at the time!

This Skirmisher was way in over his head...there was no way he would ever end-up defeating this sadistic mare. With every blow he took, this thought was even more drilled into his mind.

"This is SO MUCH FUN!" the mare screamed in joy, taking a moment to clap her hooves with delight. The Skirmisher was dumbstruck by this...she was just PLAYING!? "C'mon! You're not playing enough!"

She stepped up and head butt the Skirmisher, knocking him backwards off his balance. Before he was able to recover, she chomped down onto his right leg and flicked her upper body away and back, flinging the dazed and confused creature through the air until he disappeared behind the foliage.

"He-hah! That was so cool! Let's do it again!" the mare charged through the brush to come face-to-face with the rest of the Skirmisher's squad...apparently, they went looking for him a while ago. She slowly looked to each and every member of this squad, noting the cool looking hammer one if them hefted. Two Brute minors, four grunts, and a hammer-wielding Brute Chieftain...plus the injured Skirmisher she was "playing" with a few moments ago, "Oooohhh...new playmates..." the mare grinned happily, almost looking cute in her delighted state...as cute as you can get caked in blood, dirt, and ash, anyway.

"Crush her!" the Chieftain ordered, pointing to the small mare.

The two Brute minors roared and opened fire upon her, though she dodged the barrage of yellow spikes deftly, humming while she moved. Meanwhile, the Skirmisher started to crawl away, whimpering in fear as he knew she would destroy them all. He suddenly snapped his head around at the sound of a Brute's painful scream to see that she had managed to latch onto it's neck with her teeth. The poor Brute desperately tried to yank her off, but all he succeeded in doing was forcing her teeth deeper into his neck.

"Raaareglfgl..." the young mare suddenly and roughly tore off of the Brute, kicking away upon realizing that the other Brute was about to open fire on her since his comrade was doomed anyway. She evaded the spikes again, laughing as they reduced any chance the Brute she had attacked had of living to zero.

"You'll pay for that, fool!" the second minor shouted, hilting his Spiker and roaring in anger at the death if his partner. The mare merely turned to him and shrugged, only enraging him further, "Die!"

The Brute charged at her and jumped, preparing to smash her into the ground. Instead, though, just as he started to bring his fists down, she dashed out of the way, rolling to her feet and turning to him with a devilish grin, "Graaah!" the Brute reached for his Spiker again only to find it gone, "What what!?"

Artemis held up his Spiker, which she had swiped as she dodged his attack, "My toy now." The Brute, even more enraged than before, charged at her with a yell of pure fury. She shook her head, tossing the stolen Spiker behind her before jumping back to avoid his fists again. She backflipped, caught the Spiker in her mouth, and pulled the other two Spikers she had lifted off of the first two brutes off her side so that, when she landed, there were three Spikers pointed at the minor.

"Wh-what is this!?" he shouted before his entire front side gained a similar look to a certain Super Hedgehog...

The Skirmisher was completely mortified...she used her TONGUE to fire a third weapon! He was done with this. He immediately got up and sprinted as far away from there as he could, hoping to whatever deity he followed that he would NEVER cross paths with that mare again...he tripped multiple times on his way to wherever...that bite mark on his leg would be there forever.

At the sound of terrified chatter, the mare turned her head to the four grunts who shook in their gas masks, wondering what fate was about to befall them. Two immediately turned and ran, only to be crushed by the Chieftain's gravity hammer with a disapproving roar. He did NOT tolerate retreat...lucky for the Skirmisher, he didn't see his retreat. The remaining two grunts figured they had nothing else to do beside whip out their stickies, ignite them, and scream wildly while they charged at that insane mare. At the sight if the fiery blue orbs, Artemis glared, her bubbly mood switching to hatred. Those same spheres had killed her mother...and no matter what kind if trauma she would ever go through in the future, no matter what kind of pain and horror-induced amnesia she would later receive...she would never forget how much she hated the sticky grenades.

She spat out the Spiker in her mouth before angrily pitching her right-hand Spiker at the closest grunt. It hit it square in the face, crushing it's skull and causing it to drop the stickies it was holding. In it's blind terror, the second grunt just ran right into the stickies the first had dropped and it exploded in a destructively beautiful blue plasma-electro-flame. Artemis instantly got over her sour mood and smiled happily at the sight...

The Chieftain, on the other hand, could not TOLERATE being humiliated by this puny pony any longer, so he raised his hammer above his head, roaring a battle cry of fury, then charged at the slightly dazed and awestruck mare. He would crush her if it was the last thing he did!

The mare, though, noticed he was coming, and turned to face her adversary. Before he reached her she threw her last Spiker away, as it was out of ammo, and lifted a scalped UNSC soldier of his pistol and ammo. Taking a quick moment to look it over in her hoof before dodging to the side to avoid the hammer, she noted that something was scrawled on it's side with a knife crudely before the soldier's death. She'd have to examen it later, though, for this hammer wielding ape was pretty fast and was already upon her again.

"Die!" it shouted, swinging it's hammer down again.

The mare scowled before diving backwards then rolling to her hooves again, taking aim and firing at the brute. He took a few shots, but ignored them and charged again. This surprised the mare...he was tough, that's for sure. Quickly reloading first, she jumped as the hammer was brought down again, the gravity explosion causing her to float a little higher, then came back down and landed on the hammer itself with a smirk.

"You're fun!" she laughed at the confused Brute before running up the hammer's handle and delivering a face-full of pistol. The brute stumbled slightly, but kept a grip on his hammer, trying to swing her off. She jumped again, though, flipping over him and latching onto his back, where she proceeded to fire round after round of bullets into the back of his skull.

With every shot at point blank, the Chieftain had no time to activate his power armor to protect himself and was dead by the end of the clip. He fell forwards, landing on his face and dropping the hammer while Artemis laughed in joy, her face covered in fresh blood while she sat on his back.

"SO MUCH FUUN!" she sang, giggling in fits.

Truly, this was one crazy mare...she was later found trying to pick-up and swing the Gravity hammer, without success, by UNSC soldiers while looking for survivors. She had a pistol with the word "Crimson" scrawled into it's side. Apparently, the person she had lifted the pistol off of was the leader of the previous Crimson Team...who all died on Equis.

I wish I could do more research on that Team, Ma'm, but they are blacklisted and blocked-out at every turn...I'm just going to guess that they were just like us. The Clean-up Crew and Bad Company, correct...? Thought so...I promise I won't pry any more than that. So now that you've got all this backstory stuff...you need to hear what happened during our recovery of Operation /3R_0R/, correct? Alright...it started-out normal...just a recon for anything or anypony salvageable after the battle...turned out that there was more to that Facility which the Covenant REALLY wanted no one to see...and live.

"Alright! Simple and usual procedure here, ya freaks! Drop in, recover anything and anyone useful, pick-off some leftover enemies, and get the hell back home!"

Commander Smith shouted at us, her voice barely audible past the rushing wind and jets. We were scheduled to drop from near-orbital altitude in a few more minutes, and she was repeating our mission to us while the drop doors opened.

"This Facility was shut down by an army of ours a while ago! The Covey fought tooth and nail to defend it's contents! But eventually lost as their forces barricaded themselves inside and we starved them out!" she continued, "As no soldier has entered yet, no one is entirely sure what exactly the conditions inside are like at this time! They don't even know if every bastard is dead in there! Seeing as it's been about five years since they barricaded themselves in, it's safe to assume they are! Still...!" Reyna fitted her Recon helmet on, motioning for us to do the same. Quickly, Artemis, Ryan, and I snapped our helmets on and activated our comms, "We're going in blind, so tread lightly."

Each of us nodded before turning to our drop spots and awaiting the green light. Artemis and I would be dropping in free fall, using an enhanced armor ability which utilizes the defensive power of the armor lock and bubble shield and applies it to our shields to defend us from the searing heat of friction in the way down, and finally overcharges itself to the max to protect us from the impact. Our two ODST human partners obviously dropped via ODST drop pods. I looked over to Ryan, or Ghost, to see him messing with his ODST scout helmet and some of his equipment. Probably configuring them to work together properly. Next I looked to our leader, Reyna, or Widow, to see her checking her shotgun and SMG for any flaws or malfunctions. Lastly, I drifted my eyes to Artemis, our Wolfie, and her self-painted, out of regulation, dark red and black armor which matched the color scheme of her own coat, mane, and tail. She was checking-over that custom Sniper of hers, which she nicknamed "Undertaker," to make sure everything was working fine with it. I, on the other hand, already checked my equipment and made sure it was in it's drop-pod.

Soon enough, an alarm went off, alerting us that we would be dropping in a few moments, so my entire squad packed all their gear into their respective pods. The ODSTs kept their equipment in their own personal pods, while Artemis and I had to use separate ammo pods which we'd have to find once we touched down. It was somewhat annoying doing so, but it couldn't be helped.

An image of Reyna, via her internal helmet cam, popped-up on the top right hoof corner of our visors, her voice buzzing in the earpiece.

"Alright, on my mark, jump. Three..."

I tensed-up...this was my first near-orbital jump...

"...two..."

It was going to be one hell of a fall, I knew that much.

"...one..."

"Buckin' OOHRAH, BITCHES!" Artemis shouted, right before the command was given.

"Go! Jump jump jump!" Artemis moved a moment before me, doing a backflip out of the back while I trailed behind her and our two ODST companions slid out, falling behind us in their pods, "See you on the ground."

Reyna's image was replaced by an elevation timer, which was dropping QUICKLY. I shifted my gaze below me to find Artemis spread eagle like I was...except facing upwards towards me...I swear I could still FEEL her creepy gaze aimed right into my soul...she suddenly flipped around and went streamline, speeding up and getting further and further away from me. I decided to do the same, coming to the rational that reaching ground faster was better. Activating my friction resisters, I shifted my limbs tight against my body, tilting down so as to cut through the air more smoothly. Checking my elevation counter, I saw it CLEARLY increase in the rate at which it dropped...though I still had a ways to go.

Below me, I could see the layer of clouds racing up to meet me like a wall of pure white. At first, my instinct told me to fear hitting it...then I remembered it was just TINY bits of water which would evaporate the moment it touched me due to the intense heat the outside of my armor probably felt like...I thought I saw some flames lick by once or twice, too...I broke the clouds and entered a MASSIVE storm. It was dark, rainy and windy. Lightning struck everywhere and visibility was somewhat low. Luckily, my elevation meter was still up and I knew just when to overcharge the shield to brace for impact. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something heavy and fast burst through a small forest, shaking them wildly, then I quickly activated my shield and gritted my teeth, closing my eyes and hoping for the best...

Next thing I knew...I woke up with Artemis standing over me and it was the middle of the night.

Storm's a'comin...

"Oi..." I stated dumbly, taking her outstretched hoof to help me up.

"Have a nice fall?" she asked, snickering at her cheesy little joke. I shook my head no, rolling my eyes behind my visor, "Yeah, you hit pretty damn hard!" she said, indicating the rock plateau I had landed on...well, she explained that it was a plateau anyway...when I woke up all I saw was a bunch of rocks.

She grabbed my hoof suddenly and started dragging me along, "Alright, no time to waste! Let's go get our buddies and head to that Factory-thing!"

I eventually wrenched my hoof away from hers, yet continued to follow the impulsive mare, while simultaneously activating the Waypoint tracking system on my HUD. Apparently, we were heading towards Ryan first, seeing as his stark white Waypoint waypoint was directly in front of us and it's distance counter was slowly dropping. He was actually pretty close, only 200 meters.

"H...ey...hey! Hey-ey!...G...s!"

Ghosts's voice scratched over the radio...it sounded like there was some kind of interference. We figured it was the storm that passed.

"My equip...nt i...ac..........eird."

"Ghost...kinda can't tell what you're saying..." Artemis responded, picking-up her pace, "Just stay where you are, the Squirt and I are on the way. We'll get your sister after we reach you!"

"I..."

The connection was completely lost after that. That storm was really messing with his stuff...it's odd. Maybe there was more to that storm than what we first thought...so we continued to Ghost's waypoint for a few more minutes, hoping we didn't run into any hostiles since we had yet to retrieve our own equipment and weapons. Soon enough, we broke into a clearing to see the techie himself whack some kind of radio set with a wrench.

"C'mon! Work damnit!" he turned suddenly, wrench raised and ready to attack, but then lowered it upon seeing it was us and laughed, "Geeze, scared the shit outta me."

I nodded to him while Artemis shrugged, walking over to his apparently malfunctioning radio set-up, "So what's wrong with the comms?" she asked bluntly.

Ghost, shaking his head in self-disappointment, slowly turned to the mare and answered sadly, "I...have no fucking clue...I guess it's the storm, but..." he looked up and away at the electric torrents off in the distance, shaking a fist with his middle finger raised, "Storms shouldn't bring THIS much crap into my system!"

"Well, whatever, all that matters is that communication is going to have to be the old fashioned way." Artemis stated, shrugging, "No biggie."

Ghost suddenly turned on her, "No biggie...? No biggie!" he groaned angrily, "If the interference continues even after we make it to the Factory, then it's going to be even more dangerous than previously predicted!"

Artemis removed her helmet, holding it by her side while shaking her mane out, "Ghost..." she grabbed the collar of his suit and pulled him face to visor, talking in a dark and serious tone, "No...biggie..." she pushed him back and replaced her helmet, locking it back into place, "Clear?" he shoot his head, remaining silent, "Good, let's go get Widow."

Ghost had all of his gear packed up and ready to go in only a few short moments, then we headed-off North towards Widow's pitch black waypoint. We all caught buzzes of static now and again, but nothing clear. We assumed she was trying to contact us, but the storm was continuing to block our signal.

"I love storms..." Artemis stated absentmindedly as we walked on.

"Is...is that sarcastic...? Or no...?" Ghost asked in confusion, looking to me after her.

I shook my head with a shrug, and Artemis didn't respond. After that, the rest of the walk was pretty much silence. Widow landed a moderate distance away, so it took a little longer to reach her than it did Ghost, but, soon enough, we found Widow sitting beside her pod...meditating. She would do that at the start of every mission, and, to be honest, I never understood it. Apparently, meditating calms one's nerves or something...if that was true, then Artemis should have practiced meditation at least ten times a day. Well, anyway, seeing as she was our leader, and none of us wanted to interrupt her "special time," we all sat down and waited for her to finish. Deciding to try and pass the time, Ghost started talking about how some of his tech worked. Like how the hologram and stealth capabilities were "technological innovations that surpass anything ever done ever before." I really found it boring, but decided to humor him. Artemis, on the other hand, rolled her eyes before up and walking away, going off into the woods a ways and sitting with her back against a tree, helmet off and head slouched forwards.

I soon found myself slowly drifting asleep, and I actually would have enjoyed it, but just as I felt my eyes closing for the night, something shoved me from behind, causing me to nearly fall onto my face. After catching myself, I turned around to see Widow back in full armor and standing above me.

"Get Wolfie, we're heading out in thirty seconds." she ordered, motioning for Ghost to stand.

I nodded before trotting off towards where I thought Artemis was sleeping. Upon arriving near her, though, I found she was still awake, mumbling something I couldn't hear. Her head suddenly snapped around at me when I stepped on and broke a twig. I almost jumped at the...different...look in her eyes when she turned. They were bloodshot and glistening, with her coat a bit matted around her eyes while she had a slightly noticeable blush.

"Don't worry, I'm coming." she answered before I even said anything, snatching her helmet and quickly standing, walking by me without another word.

I shook my head, turning and slowly following her back out, wondering what exactly I just saw. I was going to think that she cried, but...that's not possible for her...is it?

"Alright team, so with comms currently out of commission, we'll have to rely entirely on sound and sight, understood?" Widow asked us, looking to each of us slowly.

We all nodded before she continued.

"Good, now according to the coordinates..." she turned and pointed east...far east, "Our target is about ten miles that way..."

"Ten miles?" Ghost tapped something on his visor, probably bribing-up a scope-system or something, and looked in the indicated direction...at the storm, "But...that's right where the storm is!"

Widow turned to her brother, tilting her head as if to say, "So?"

"C'mon! That CAN'T be coincidence, can it?" he asked each of us, "I mean, I super-electro storm that just HAPPENS to be directly over our target? Which is a FACTORY, I might add." he shook his head, "I have a bad feeling we're going to have to deal with some crazy-ass science experiment gone wrong or something..." he sighed before groaning, "Whatever! Well let's get this over with, huh?"

Widow nodded, pushing him on, "That's the Spirit!" she joked...wait: Widow JOKING!? That's different...and Artemis, too! She's been quiet since I pulled her up here...she always has some snippy remark to make, or some perverted statement to molest somepony with...this mission was turning out to be the most interesting, yet, and we JUST landed.

It would take some time to reach our destination, giving me ample time to reconfigure my mind to a quiet Artemis and a happy Widow...I was trying to recall any events that happened recently which might have brought some changes in attitude to my two leaders. Only after a short amount of time did I recall that Thanksgiving celebration which occurred only a month before this mission. Ryan had actually cheered his sister up!...but Artemis...if anything, she seems worse than before. At least her snips and remarks meant she was still enjoying the prospect of killing something...maybe she hadn't had her "fix" for a while and was just moody.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what kind of "fix" I'm talking about, right...? Well...as you know, her mind was never set in the right place, and one of the results of this is her completely odd liking for raw meat and...her somewhat addiction to the taste of blood. Yes, this is a VERY disturbing aspect, but, well, she's a very favorite customer of bloodbanks everywhere. If anything, her lust for blood only fuels her to be...better...in the field...as sadistic as that sounds. I honestly think she's slightly masochistic, as well, Ma'm...I know that doesn't really apply at the moment, but I just thought it was an adequate addition.

Yes, moving on...we had come to the conclusion that we would not rest until reaching ally territory surrounding the Factory, nicknamed "Rainbow Factory" because of the fact that a typo in the mission details had erased the space between "Rain," and "Bow" when describing the mission's nickname. At least, that's what I was told, anyway. We continued to walk through the night, being forced to activate Night Vision to see. I spotted a few signs of life scuttling about around us. They all seemed to be small creatures native to the land, nothing important to note, really. The whole night, nothing bothered us, probably smelling the death which wafted off of every last piece of our armor. Plus, I wouldn't blame them, they'd probably end-up as a snack for Artemis.

I was tired, sore, hungry, and slightly irritated by the time we spotted friendly encampments. They'd all been there so long, it looked like a miniature town. I blinked a few times and could have sworn I saw Ponyville again...but it all suddenly disappeared and I dismissed it as exhaustion-induced illusions. We were at the top of a small cliff, looking out over the edge while lighting struck above us, thundering out across the land and echoing off the cliff face. It never rained, though...

"Ghost, do you think you can boost a telegraph to our Friendlies down there?" Widow asked, looking down over the cliff, "I don't look forward to the prospect of climbing down this thing."

After a couple moments of fiddling with his mobile setup...which I won't go into detail to describe, seeing as I have no idea how his stuff worked...he turned to us with a satisfactory nod, "Alright, I do believe I was able to push coordinates to them, now we wait until we receive some form of confirmation.

Not even five minutes later, a Falcon lifted off of a heli-pad within the encampment and began making it'a way towards us.

"Oh yeah..." Ghost suddenly spoke up, sounding a bit sheepish, "I was only able to send the coordinates, so...they don't know what they'll find when they get here, so..."

"I'll light a flare, just...wait patiently, everyone." Widow cut in, pulling out a red flare and setting it off, waving it around in front of her to alert the pilot of our presence.

The loud whirring of blades cutting through air while gears grinded quickly reached our ears, and the Falcon was soon enough hovering close to the cliff's edge.

"Hey! You lot the Task Force we heard about a while ago...? You know, before communications decided to die." One of the humans sitting in a passenger seat of the vehicle leaned out over the edge, waving us over, "Crimson Team, if I remember?"

"That's us." Widow leaned up to shake the soldier's hand, "I'm the leader and resident Vehicular warfare specialist, Reyna Smith. Call me Widow."

The soldier pulled her inside while Ryan came up next, "Ryan Smith, comm's specialist and the one who sent you our location. Call me Ghost."

Ghost was pulled in and sat inside, beside the other soldier present in the Falcon. They nodded to eachother from behind their visors.

I stepped up next, extending a hoof for him to help me up, "What's your name...?" he asked, pulling me in.

"He doesn't talk much, our Rookie." Widow answered while I took one of the seats connected to the edges of the passenger section, dangling my back hooves over the edge, "But he's a damn good soldier. Part of the Spartan-IV program."

"Alright...so, um, what about...her?" he asked, pointing to Artemis, who had her arms crossed and was noticing the lack of room for her.

"Uhm...she's the one that just wrecks everything that breaths...and our second in command. Her name's Artemis," Widow explained while Artemis began to take her helmet off, preparing to just climb on top of the Falcon, "Call her Wolfie."

"Huh...?" the soldier asked in confusion, looking back to Widow in confusion, "Why's that her Callsign?" Artemis paused and looked back at the soldier at the same time he looked to her, flashing a very...scary and sharp-toothed filled smile. The soldier reared back, gulping fearfully, "Right...I see."

Artemis hopped her way to the hood of the Falcon, latching herself on with a super-magnetic lock integrated into most suits to allow such actions for extra versatile warfare. Like, let's say a passenger to a Falcon wants to jump onto an enemy Banshee as it passes?

"Alright, so, tell me what you know about this place." Widow said, taking her seat and removing her helmet, shaking out her hair.

"Well...we know there's some very valuable tech inside there." he answered, "I mean, why else would they go to such drastic measures to keep us from getting in there, you know? Aside from that...nothing."

Widow sighed, "Of course...so where's our entry point going to be?"

"We have found what we believe to be the loading bay, so obviously, it's going to be the easiest to enter through, seeing as we couldn't find an actual 'front door' of any kind." he started, "We'll be blowing a hole in their barriers, then stationing heavy weaponry there to shoot and kill anything which tries to come out...so when you guys are done and on your way back, be sure to give us some indication that it's you, aight?"

Widow smirked, "Right, would hate to be blown away by Friendlies."

Ghost removed his helmet next, taking a deep relaxing breath, "God, I can't wait to shower...and SLEEP!"

I nodded in agreement, while I heard a very lovely "BUCK YES." from above.

The other soldier who had ridden up on the Falcon peeked over at the roof, wondering just what the hell Artemis was doing up there.

The soldier removed the helmet, then shook her hair out, stating, "So...what's her story anyway?"

"Holy shit, you're a girl." Ghost muttered in bewilderment, taking his own helmet off.

Widow snickered slightly, shoving me and winking. Ghost was a complete wreck when it came to girls. Yes, he is unafraid of ANYTHING...except girls.

"Yeah...and?" the girl asked him, brushing away a few strands of blonde hair and giving Ghostie a questioning, green-eyed stare.

"N-nothing! Uhhh...nevermind." he turned away, humming incoherently, while Widow and I burst into a small fit of snickers.

Artemis suddenly stuck her head in, upside down, with a wide grin, "Oh, Ghostie! Are you flirting with other girls!? But I thought we had something!" Well...it seemed as thought the molesting-savvy Artemis I know and love was back at that remark, "Were all of those nights of passion and love just mindless fu-"

"Shut-it, before I decide to hack the radio in your helmet so your voice sounds like a chipmunk every time you talk with it on." Ghost threatened, shutting Artemis's mouth, though she kept a mocking grin.

"Well...I heard Crimson team was filled with freaks..." the female soldier remarked, "But I didn't think bestiality was one of the reasons why."

At this, Ghost turned bright red and quickly shoved his helmet back on to try and hide...didn't work too well. On the other hand, though, everypony else in the cabin burst into laughter, while Artemis returned to her spot on the roof.

"My name is Alice, by the way." the female introduced herself, shaking Widow's hand.

"And I'm Jason." the other soldier who had first addressed us on the cliff finally introduced, nodding to each of us, "Looks like we're landing. Your resting suite is right there, marked by the red lights." he indicated the small building with red lights in front of it, "Complete with two bedrooms, four bunks, and two showers."

As we landed, I hopped off, only to nearly jump back on as Artemis landed directly in front of me, helmet back on. Widow, Ghost, Alice, and Jason followed shortly after as the pilot exited and checked his Falcon over to make sure everything was alright with it.

Widow started to give-out the bedding arrangement at this time, "Alright, so Artemis and Squirt will share one room..."

'Buck my life...' I thought in annoyance.

"Ghost and I get the other." she finished, "I don't care who goes first on your side, but Ryan...I GO FIRST." she glared at her brother, "I know how long your showers are and you're not using all my hot water."

"Right, bosslady..." he agreed, shrugging.

We arrived at our housing and said goodbye to our two new acquaintances until the morning, then we went to our respective rooms. Artemis quickly started to take her armor off, tossing her helmet up to the top bunk.

"Alright...you can go first, if ya want." she said, leaning down to unclip some her of leggings.

I was a bit surprised by this, but decided to take her act of kindness to my advantage, so I dashed into the small bathroom, removing my armor in there. I'm not the pony to take long showers, so I was done within a few short minutes. After drying off, I was about to step outside, but I stopped upon hearing something...peculiar...

Now, I would like to point out, before I go on, that this information I am about to present to you, Ma'm, is NEVER revealed to be revealed Luna, or else I fear what might happen to my own self...yes I know, it would be "hard" for Artemis to harm me, but I wouldn't put it past her, she'd find a way, I'm sure...I...alright, I'll stop wasting time...

As I was saying, I was about to step outside, but I heard some kind of noise on the other side. Curiosity getting the better of me, I put an ear to the door. After a few moments of listening I concluded that the noise I was hearing was...Uhm...moaning...as in, of the sensual and pleasurable kind. I started to press against the door harder, only to realize that it hadn't fully closed and I was quickly falling towards the ground. After hitting muzzle first into the ground, I pushed myself back up, shaking my head in disorientation, to find Artemis had jumped high out of her spot on the top bunk, yelping in surprise as she covered most of herself with the blanket.

"Uh-Uhm..." her eyes darted to something in the ground hesitantly, her face practically glowing in embarrassment. When I looked down, curious as to what she looked at, I saw a very...ahem...lewd and...inappropriate picture of Princess Luna...now that I think about this, I might know what Luna had promised Artemis that day in the limo...

Looking away in shock and a bit of confusion, I blindly looked for the picture with my right hoof. After finding it, I picked it up and held it up for Artemis to take back. Once it was out of my hooves, I went to my bottom bunk and laid down, staring up at the mattress above. After a couple, severely awkward minutes went by, Artemis finally spoke up.

"You...you won't tell anypony about this...right...?" she asked somewhat pleadingly, peeking over the edge at me. I gave her a glance as if to say, "Really...?" then she looked away, grinning in relief, "Right...you don't talk anyway...hehe...Uhm..." she went back up to her bunk entirely, laying down and not making another sound afterwards.

Until that point, I always thought Artemis just liked harassing Luna because she thought it was fun...guess she has some kind of "thing" going for the Princess...

Invisible threats, and more drain bamage

With last night's...travesty...out of my mind, for the most part, anyway, Artemis and I borrowed a Mongoose to go retrieve our own equipment from the drop pods. We would have done it last night, but it was agreed that we would rest in friendly land first. We were all tired. Artemis drove while I held on the back...for dear life. Even with my magnet lock, it was still one hell of a rollercoaster ride for my life. She's not a bad driver, no, just...a reckless one.

Aside from the motor, grinding of brakes, screams of delight, and bangs from collisions...the trips were all in silence. I figured she was too embarrassed to talk to me due to her little "incident" the previous night. We first gathered my gear, having to climb a small cliff and gather it all in the side of it, since it hit the cliff at an angle and dug itself into the cliff face. I almost fell multiple times, and I even jumped off and caught my LWC since it slipped out of my hooves on the way down. I was able to catch a piece of the cliff and save myself, climbing down without any more mishaps.

Once down, I clipped and latched everything on to it's proper place: grenades to my left hip, pistol to my right hip, LWC to my back, and knife to my chest.

"You all set?" Artemis asked, to which I nodded, "Alright. Nice catch, by the way. Wish I caught it on tape."

I shrugged, climbing back onto the back while she started the motor again. We raced off through the forest-like area, heading towards her stash next. It wasn't much further than mine was, and we reached it in only five minutes. Her pod was, luckily, just stuck right in the ground amidst the trees. She hopped off and started gathering-up her stuff, while I looked around the area. It was just a forest-land like any you'd normally find on Earth, as long as it hadn't been decimated by war, anyway. I checked my motion radar out of habit, since I always felt weary when there was no movement on my radar what-so-ever...

'Wait...' not even Artemis was on my radar...yet she was moving a good amount, so she should have set-off the radar, yet...nothing. I quickly grabbed my pistol, darting my eyes around the area in search of anything out of place, 'This isn't good...' I looked through the treetops and spotted clear skies. The storm had passed, so it couldn't have been what was causing this.

When Artemis noticed my odd behavior, she paused in slinging her enormous rifle, "Undertaker," around her to give me a look from behind her visor, "What's up with you?" she asked.

"Check ya radar." I answered, continuing to scan the area.

She paused again to do so, then, "What abou-" she cut herself off, quickly raising Undertaker and aiming it directly at, what I first thought, was me.

"Whoa-!?" I jumped back as she pulled the trigger, my ears ringing and my teeth hurting. Her rifle is designed to fire extremely powerful rounds which are made for the specific purpose of ripping vehicles apart. Putting this together with special long distance and heavy bullets...whatever it touches it ripped to shreds and scattered across the land. Still, packing this much power comes with a setback...actually, it comes with a kickback...A HELL of a LOT of kickback. It's like getting bucked by the entire Apple family at once.

I rolled back to my hooves in time to see Artemis slam into the tree behind her, her rifle bouncing and rolling away a few meters. Looking behind me, I saw two trees falling down and the blue, green, and red stain of...whatever she shot at...because it had exploded. Looking over my own shoulder, I saw that some of that mush was on my back. Deciding that it would be best to bring a sample back so we could figure-out what the hell just happened later, I scooped some of the mess off my back and into a thin sample container which came, by standard, in every drop pod. After that was done, I turned to Artemis to find her still slouched over, back against the tree.

'Did...did she get knocked out...?' I wondered, kneeling by her and waving a hoof in front of her visor. I looked above her to find that the tree was severely bent and cracked where she had hit, specifically her head...that rifle should NEVER be fired unless you're as set and prepared as possible...

Looking over my shoulder, I ran off to grab her rifle before mounting-up, Undertaker slung around my body and Artemis leaning over my shoulder. I drove back, feeling paranoid that we could get jumped at any time, since whatever the heck is going on around this factory seems to point towards radio-disabling technology. Artemis actually stared to slide-off at one point, but I quickly threw my body back, somehow managing to drive, without crashing with my back hooves while catching and bringing Artemis back up with my front hooves. Once all was settled, I celebrated this amazing accomplishment mentally as I rode back into the encampment. After I parked, a couple solders, human and pony, came up to take Artemis off my hooves. I stepped off the Mongoose and looked over at Artemis as they removed her helmet. A little bit of dried blood had caked a small portion of her mane and face, apparently from when the back of her head slammed into the tree...plus, ever since her first run-in with Washington, that spot was always a bit soft.

"Get her into the infirmary. Treat for head trauma." a pony shouted as they carried her away in a stretcher, helmet resting by her chest. I swear, it amazes me that she got through everything without permanent brain damage...I mean, she'd swap a few words or sounds here and there once in a while, but nothing major.

"Hey! Squirt!" I turned my head to see Widow and Ghost running in my direction. Both had casual wear on, their armor probably laying on or beside their beds, "What happened to Artemis? Is she okay?"

I quickly explained to them what happened as we were gathering our gear, and how Artemis probably saved my life by shooting her convoluted rifle, but cracked her head in the process. I then showed them the sample I collected, which Ghost took and said he would take it to the local scientists to see what they had to say about it.

"I hope she'll be okay..." Widow muttered, holding her hands by her chest with a worried look. At this, I turned and stared at her in curiosity from behind my visor. Widow has never shown signs of emotion towards anyone, or anypoy since her last coltfriend...save for Ghost, of course, so...it would seem all of us are changing.

Widow has feelings, Artemis is in love, Ghost is becoming wary, and I'm...what am I becoming?...am I just a static soldier who kills and completes missions...a drone of war?...I shook my head, pushing these thoughts out of my mind. I would have time to dwell when we got back home, I had to keep my mind set on the mission at hand.

"Well...we'll have to wait until Artemis recovers before we enter, like we had planned." Widow stated, "Hopefully she'll be back up and kicking by tomorrow, but for today..." she patted me on the back, "Go enjoy yourself. I'm going to go discuss the findings from that sample with Ghost, then call Halsey and Luna to see how it should be handled and taken."

I turned and watched my commanding officer saunter off in the same direction Ghost went...although she was still doing "work," per say, I could clearly tell she was enjoying this day of calm.

And then it dawned on me: What do I do to "enjoy" myself here...? Wait...I don't even remember what I used to do for fun! Celestia DAMN this war! I AM becoming a drone!...the last, or...well, only really fun time I can last remember is Nightmare Night...oh, that was sure something. Luna, getting over her introversion and adjusting to the present day...I wished Luna was there to at least talk to...she was, still is, and always will be my favorite Princess...I snickered a bit, making my way to the infirmary.

'I know Luna is also the favorite of somepony else I know.' I laughed inwardly, making my way through the doorway, 'Guess visiting and talking with Artemis will consume a good amount of time.'

I approached the pony positioned at the reception desk. She was turned around and leaning over to grab something out of a box on the floor, so I leaned over to see what she was doing out if curiosity. Her coat was a soft blue, and her mane, a mix of white and cyan streaks, falling over her face slightly. Her long tail had a similar color. I next looked to her flank and saw she had an injection needle as her cutie mark...and that was when she came back up.

"H-wha!" she jumped back slightly, surprised to find me there, "Wh...where you staring at my flank!?" she asked, her voice raising slightly in anger.

I nodded my head yes at first...then realized what she was actually asking and started shaking it no, but after that, I started to decide that I shouldn't lie and began to shake yes again, but she held-up a hoof, looking down with a wry grin.

"N...nevermind, I'll just take that as a compliment..." she looked back up, a bright smile on her muzzle, "How may I help you, sir?"

I thought for a moment, attempting to put my mind back in it's right spot, then I took my helmet off to finally answer, "Ah'm lookin' for a new patien' ere named Ar'emis." I explained, to which she slowly gained a frown of disappointment.

"Uhm, yes...that way, on the right at the end..." she said, indicating the hall which led to her room, "Relation with the patient...?" she asked with a sigh.

"She's par' o' me team." I answered, "Crimson Team."

She suddenly brightened-up a bit, throwing me into a bit of confusion, "Alright then!" she quickly scribbled something down, which I thought was my visiting information, then handed it to me, "Here."

I took the paper in my hoof then read it...it was the name of a building within the base, along with a room number.

"Be there later, at, oh, let's say, six, hmm?" she asked, "I'll be off by then."

Before I could even comprehend what just happened, she shooed me off to Artemis' room, leaving me dazed and confused. After the door closed behind me, I just stared off into space...until I realized something else was staring at me.

Looking down, I saw Artemis, in just her patient gown, and the bandages on her head, of course, staring at me with a wry and devilish smile...I nearly had a heart attack, it was so creepy.

"Gatta girl aft'a ya, hmm?" she asked, swishing her tail and shifting into a position on her side, facing me while propping her head up with a hoof.

I stared back in confusion for a few seconds before realizing what she meant, to which I quickly shook my head no furiously...until I thought about it. I stopped shaking no, looking down in uncertainty.

"Heh, I heard the whole thing." she said, grabbing her right ear and winking, "Love these things. You should too, seeing as they saved your life earlier."

Remembering how she seemed to hear something right before she shot whatever tried to jump me, I asked her about what she saw before it, well...exploded.

"I dunno, really." she answered, sighing and rolling onto her back again, "Looked kinda like those bugger Drones, 'cept different, like they've been augmented or something." she rubbed her head, scowling, "I can't really remember anything 'cept for some blurry images and a really loud bang...well, two really loud bangs." she touched a sensitive spot and flinched, grimacing, "God, I'm ganna have severe drain bamage before too long..."

I gave her a worried look upon noticing the mishap in speaking which she didn't, but she didn't seem to notice the stare, either, "So what's the cute filly's name? Hmm...?" she asked, rolling onto her stomach and facing me with a curious smile, kicking her legs slowly behind her.

I shrugged, but then swiftly ducked under the remote which was flung at me, "Idiot! C'mon! First filly to take interest in you and you don't even attempt to get some flank? Are you gay?"

I blushed, cringing in surprise and shaking my head no...I hate it when she messes with me like this.

"Then grow a pair!" she laughed, clutching her sides, "Geeze! If you're so inexperienced at dealing with being hit on, then are you sure you're my team mate?" she asked between fits of giggles, "I mean, part of the reason I torture you guys is to get all of ya' out of your introversion when it comes to relationships."

I gave the mare a double-take...was she saying that all of that molesting was for the purpose of HELPING us!?

"I mean, Widow needs to try for love again...she deserves someone good to her..." she said a bit quieter, rolling onto her back and staring at the ceiling with a distant look in her unusually thoughtful eyes, "And Ghost just...well, needs a push to understanding how to deal with the 'other gender' without peeing himself, heh."

I thought about her words...and actually had to admit they contained validity.

"And you..." I froze, becoming oddly nervous as she gave me a seemingly deadly stare, "Try to stay alive, alright? You don't need my help, nor should you ever. Don't forget that you're a pony, NOT a monster like me."

I was taken aback by this...why was she telling all this to me? Was it the pain-killers dulling her brain? Or maybe the concussion messing with her mind...?

"Now hurry up, get out of my room, and get laid, Celestia damn it!" she kicked a small metal cart for medical supplies at me, knocking me out of the room. I hit the hallway wall with a grunt, then looked up to see the door slam shut.

I rolled my eyes, 'Yeah...she's perfectly normal...which is what scares me...'

Rubbing my back and picking up my helmet, I turned to see a human staring at me in confusion. I shook my head no, indicating for him to move on. He shrugged and went on his way, allowing me sight to the clock at the end...it was five thirty. Remembering the time the nurse had asked of me, I quickly dashed out of the infirmary to go remove my armor and freshen-up a bit...Artemis didn't really expect me to get lucky that night...did she?

Time for a Change in Perspective...

Finally! I've been sitting out there for the longest time, Madame, and just watched as Pip and Luna swapped in and out of here randomly...hmm? Oh! He's doing just fine, if not better, actually. He is so excited to make his tech a permanent part of his body, it's actually quite cute. I even caught him wondering why he, and I quote, "Didn't lose an arm earlier so he could do this." Yeah...fearless as ever, I suppose...right, so what was you wanted me to talk about, again?...I see...but, weren't you a part of that conversation as well?...Geeze, you guys really gatta record everything, don't you?...oh, yes, you've noticed I've been a bit cheerier than normal! Thanks! You have Artemis to thank...for that...

Sorry...anyway, yes, so...it went like this...

"Wait...you're telling me that this stuff has some Jackal DNA in it?..."

"Among other things, yes."

"'Among other thi-' WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'AMONG OTHER THINGS'!?"

I walked in on my brother freaking-out over the apparent findings of that stuff Pip scraped off his armor. Apparently, the Brutes are even less moral than the Elites were when it came to the subject of Bio-Soldiers.

"Widow, they took Jackals and fucking mashed them together with Drones and plasma grenades and...and other random bio-tech shit to make whatever the hell attacked Artemis and Pip." Ghost explained urgently.

"The one that Artemis killed probably slipped out of the Factory." I suggested, "And I'm almost 100 percent sure that there's more in there..." I paused, coming to a very morbid conclusion, "Among other 'things,' most likely..."

Ghost groaned, shaking his head, "I'm beginning to hate that phrase..."

"Whatever, listen, we have to get in that Factory and discover what else the Covey are working on. There could be tech in there which could tip the scales. So either we recover it for our own use, or destroy it to prevent the Covey from using it."

Ghost nodded, taking the sample back before thanking the scientist who had helped him, "Tomorrow then?"

"Yeah." I started to head out of the building, Ghost trailing closely, "After we break the news to Luna and Halsey. Plus, in all honesty, we need Artemis. She's perfect for a volatile situation such as this."

Ghost agreed, quickening his pace, "What did I say? I knew there'd be some crazy shit in that Factory."

"Yeah, you called it, alright." I admitted with a shrug, "Unfortunately."

We entered the holo-room and took our spots in front of the screen. I only waited about five minutes before the images of both you and Luna appeared.

"Madame, Princess." I addressed, bowing slightly towards Luna.

"Thank you." she answered, "Good to hear from you guys, is everything alright?"

I looked to Ghost, who jumped up and held the sample in front of him, "Well...yes, but we might have some unsettling news as to what's in the Factory."

"Go on, soldier." you ur-huh...? Oh, sorry..."Go on, soldier, Halsey urged.

"It's a bio-tech lab specifically designed for manipulating and distorting radar and radio, as well as enhancing stealth..." Ghost explained, "...as far as we know."

"What brought you to this conclusion?" Luna asked curiously.

"Not only have there been freak storm almost constantly through the years this encampment has been here," I continued, "But these storms have been drastically disabling the radio and radar of the base and armor. Plus...Artemis and Squirt ran into one of Bio-Soldiers which we believe was created in the Rainbow Factory."

"A-are they okay!? Where are they now!?" Luna asked fearfully, noting the absence of our two pony, Spartan friends.

"Yes, they are perfectly fine." I assured, "Though Artemis suffered yet another concussion from firing that enormous Rifle of hers."

"What enormous rifle?" Halsey asked, giving me the dead eye.

"N-nothing to be concerned about, Madame." I assured, "Just a custom rifle Artemis has. Very effective against vehicles."

Ghost nodded furiously beside me, and Halsey eventually shrugged it off...for the moment.

Luna sighed in relief as we continued, "We plan to enter the Factory tomorrow, first thing after wake-up." I paused before asking my next question. It was something I had been thinking about for a while now, actually. I knew that incorporating an obviously insane and mentally I'll subject into the Spartan Program was more than an overlook of fact. You...they had to have had a reason to attempt such a feat which contained so much probability for failure or catastrophe. Then, after it worked...

"Madame, I would also like to request the immediate removal of subject-013 from all aspects of the Spartan-IV Program and the U.N.S.C as of the conclusion of this mission."

Every eye in that room immediately fell to me in shock, even Ghost's, but I kept my gaze firm, "What...?" Ghost muttered in disbelief.

"She is going to end up killing herself, and probably others, before long." I started, "With all the head trauma she takes, it's only a matter of time before she snaps completely again...and with her training done this time, who knows what devastation she will cause."

Halsey tried to shut my argument down, "Reyna, now listen he-"

"This is immoral, and I can tell Artemis is slowly...falling apart." I cut in, "I don't know what exactly is plaguing her, but she's not fit for much more exposure to all of this."

The room remained in stunned silence for some time after that. Whether it was because I actually cared about Artemis' well being, or because this request was so out of the blue, I didn't know, nor did I care. I got my opinion out and that's all I wanted to do.

"Reyna...you know she won't agree to go, right?" Luna quietly spoke up, giving me an understanding smile.

"Court Marshall her. I know she's viable for one." I responded.

"You don't understand." she continued, "There's a reason she doing all of this, and she's not going to stop until everything is said and done."

"Princess Luna...how much time do you spend with Artemis?" Halsey asked, a hint of anger lined in her voice.

"Enough." she answered curtly, snapping quick glare at the scientist, "I've personally tried to get her to quit, and trust me, if anypony could convince her of something, it'd be me. She refused."

I sighed, shaking my head, "Whatever...you've all heard my case. I'll contact you again once the mission is complete." I turned to leave, motioning for Ghost to follow.

Once outside, Ghost took a deep breath, signing, "You know...something tells me we're all changing."

I remained silent as we continued to walk.

"Becoming human again, you know?" he continued to talk, "Problem is, our job is to not be just that."

"Ghost..."

"Maybe it's about time we all just stopped...after this mission..." he suggested, "God knows we deserve some rest."

I stopped suddenly, but my brother didn't notice until he had walked past mea few steps, "Ryan..."

"Hmm, sis?"

"Listen to this song for me, will ya?" I reached into my pocket and tossed him an old MP3 player I kept on me. It only had a few songs, but they were, and still are, my favorites.

He looked at the screen, "...'Ain't no rest for the Wicked' by Cage the Elephant..." he muttered, "What is...?"

"We can't all just stop, little bro." I explained, continuing to walk back to our bunk rooms, "'Ain't nothin' in this world for free.' We'll be done when the Covey is done." he looked down at the MP3 player again, frowning, "But...a nice, long, vacation is in order. We should be back home just in time for Christmas, too."

He shrugged, leaving me be by myself while he listened to the song. When I entered our room, I sighed and headed for the shower. I love showers...perfect place to meditate in. Plus, it's nice and warm all over. How can you not love that? Showers were always the location of my best thoughts, biggest plans, and better plans. This particular shower would be the vehicle which would help me realize exactly how I wanted to handle the Factory situation...and in enough time to make it back home for Christmas.

I grinned smugly, leaning against the shower wall and crossing my arms, "We're ganna blow the entire place to hell."

...Y...yes. That was indeed MY decisions. No one else's but mine...I realize the probable penalties of this action, but I'm confident in the fact that you need this team, so you wouldn't do anything too drastic to their leader...I understand your complaints, but it's my job to decide what is and is not fit for my team to do while in the field, directly. Yes, I also realize that this ruined any chance of her recovery, but I know for sure that she wanted no part in your army, especially after death. Plus, we kept the scans of their more important plans, which I'm sure compensates for at least some of the complaints you have.

...Please, Madam, can we all leave now? The party starts soon and a nice day with friend's is exactly what my team needs...ye...y...I...yes! I know! I realize that, in part, I was one of causes of the recent status update is her profile. I know...I read the entire thing. This party is even partially dedicated to her, as we have discerned that her actual birthday is the first day of the new year. We even have another, bigger party scheduled for New Year's Eve, which, you are always invited to, Madam. Heck, if we go now, you can get in on the pre-party booze...heh, I know, I know you're not the party type...what? I'm not trying to change the subject at all...and why have I not mentioned her name yet? Well, I never believe talking of the dead is respectable, but since I have no choice, I choose never to use her name unless it's part of the debriefing and recounting.

...so you have all you need from me, then? So my team can leave now...? No?...fine...I guess I'll get Pip back in here...

Right...I'm guessing you don't want to hear how the rest of my night went, hmm?...yeah...so the next morning, I woke up at the sound of soft crying...it wasn't coming from Cross...the name of my, ah...marefriend...she was still sound asleep. I had become quite a light sleeper because of the twitchiness that comes to being a soldier, so I sat up and looked around the room, trying to discern where the sound was coming from. After a bit of intense listening, I realized the crying was coming from outside the room, on the stoop of the building. I carefully rose out of bed, making sure not to wake Cross up. Quietly making my way to the door, I opened it to see Artemis hunched over, sitting on the steps in front of the building...she was the one crying.

"H...hey Pip..." she started, without turning around. Her head was still bandaged, and even stained with a small amount of blood which had seeped through to the top, "I..." she paused, sniffling a few times, "I wanna go home..."

I remained silent, I just didn't know how to handle this new side of her...I didn't know what was causing her to act so...different. I noticed she had a blood pouch, probably taken from the infirmary before she left.

"I just...want to go home..."

I slowly approached her, placing hoof on her shoulder...it was shaking. She was really upset about something, I knew that for sure...but I still couldn't think of how to respond.

"Can we go home, please?"

Sighed, lifting her to her hooves so she could stare me in the eyes. I could tell she had been crying for some time, as her eyes were bloodshot and tear stains ran all down her cheeks.

"I don't want to do this anym-!"

I covered her mouth with my hoof, shutting her up. She looked shocked, her eyes widening at my sudden action. I brought another hoof up to my mouth, signaling for her to quiet down, to which she nodded slowly. After I took my hoof away from her mouth, I grabbed her and suddenly lifted her onto my back, beginning to carry her back to the infirmary.

"Now you just shu' up, ge' some rest, and we'll be on ou' merry way home t' see you're marefriend by Chri'mas." I scolded, trotting casually.

She started to complain, but stopped, when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her close her eyes and rest her head down in my back, sighing as she fell asleep again. She knew I was right, there, but...as it would later turn out, I couldn't have been any further from the truth...

"Hell Jumpers got nothin' on us."

It was time...that day was the day we'd dive once more unto the breach. I was all rested up, Widow had her entire plan already thought-out, Ghost had set-up the radio station we would be communication with the outside allies with then tweaked our armor enhancements, and Artemis was feeling better, as well as ready for the task ahead...we didn't really know what to expect in there, so this mission would be our most dangerous yet. All we knew was that there was probably a massive amount of enemies unseen before using technology which nopony had ever encountered...yeah, perfect for us.

"Blow it." Widow ordered as we all snapped on our helmets. As soon as I had mine all set to go, I witness a somewhat large explosion of fire and debris where a locked bay door used to be. Once the wind blew the smoke and fire away, all that was left was a gaping, pitch black hole that seemed to go to nowhere...

"Well...who's ready to go to hell?" Artemis asked cheerily, slapping Ghost and I on our backs, her internal helmet cam showing bright and cheery smile in the top right corner of our HUDs.

I nodded and Ghost laughed, "As always!"

Artemis woke up a while earlier with no apparent recollection of her little breakdown, roaring and ready to go. I found out that Widow and Ghost had talked to Luna and Halsey about the mission and the findings from my sample before she woke-up, though...including the part of the mixed DNA, and Widow's request to remove Artemis. Still that inevitable travesty would have to wait until AfTER we all go home. We didn't want to upset her right as we entered a place such as that Factory.

The rest of my team's faces appeared on my HUD, as mine did to theirs after the explosion. All of us were grinning like maniacs as Widow started, "One, two..."

"We're comin' for you." Ghost continued, shouldering his AR as we all began to trot in.

"Three, four..." Widow continued, loading a clip into her shotgun and pumping it.

Artemis was next, her tail swishing joyfully and her rifle, undertaker bobbing on her back, "Better lock your door."

Widow counted again, holding up both hands not that her shotgun was clipped to her back. One hand had all fingers displayed, the other, just the middle one,"Fix, six..."

"We're in it for the kicks!" Artemis laughed, hoof-pumping a couple times.

"Seven, eight..."

"We'll tell it t' ya straigh'..." I added, nodding to my partners as we stepped into the darkness while the soldiers outside closed-off the entrance with a mobile blast door.

"Nine, ten..."

For the last line, we all spoke in unison, our helmet lights activating at the end just as all light left us, "You'll never see day again."

We all just stood there in silence for a few moments, looking around the area. It very much resembled the inside of any Covanent installation: Blue and purple chrome, rounded edges, and a whole lot of foreign designs.

"Remember, our night vision needs light to work. It can't amplify zero." Ghost reminded, "I would have installed the better one's that produce their own...um, stuff...Uh, I really don't think you want me to get into the specifics..."

"Agreed, egghead." Artemis interjected, snickering.

"Right...so anyway, yeah, we just don't have the funds to do it." he concluded just as Widow started to walk forwards, "Anywho, what's the plan, boss?"

Widow looked around, noticing a couple of storage boxes, containers, and what appeared to be parts for a multitude of unfinished...things. We honestly couldn't really tell what any of it was...

"The plan?...for now, find the schematics for this place, along with any useful blueprints, plans, and salvageable tech." she pused, grinning on her video-stream in the top center of my HUD, "Then we blow the entire place the fuck up...after we haul out, of course."

"I like this." Artemis quickly added in, "A lot."

"Are you sure that's the right way to go about this? We don't have clearance to do that, technically..." Ghost questioned.

We all began to walk toward what seemed like a hallway entrance, all of us in a skittish and paranoid mood. Since he had to rely entirely on our sight, seeing as the enemies had radar blocking technology. Every step was cautious, slow, and heart-thumping. Since the entire place was quieter than death, sounds of skittering and buzzing could clearly be heard from deep within the facility. Of course, we never knew if anything was in that room with us, so we were all on intense look-out. Luckily, nothing struck us within the entrance room and we made it to the hallway without any mishaps or attacks.

"Artemis, take point." Widow demanded, to which she quickly followed through with by jumping to the front of the group and looking every which way, her currently thermal-sighted DMR shouldered and aimed to fire at a moment's notice.

"Clear."

I took the rear, constantly flipping around to check behind and above us for anything which could be a threat...Celestia, the entire process was so intense...it's like watching Ghost play his "Dead Space" game, which I heard was very similar to that incident involving the terminated Marker Project...there was even somepony with the same name and abilities part of it, too...Isaac Colt...I met him once. Mission on Beta Halo...good pony, he was.

"Maybe we should find a way to get power on?" Ghost suggested as we continued to slowly, agonizingly make our way down the hall, which seemed to wind on forever.

"I don't know..." Widow responded, "We don't really know what activating this place will do. Remember that 'Resident Evil' movie?" Ghost's face quickly resembled his namesake up in the right-hand corner of my HUD, "Exactly."

"Yeah...but still, I'd rather see what wants to kill me than not, even if seeing it involves dealing with some extra and more fucked-up shit." he concluded.

"Group vote. Power search, or no?" Widow asked.

"Aye." I answered. I honestly agreed with Ghost on this one.

Artemis took a bit more time to think than I did, but answered shortly after, "Although I enjoy the fact of using my ears and nose over my eyes..." it was true, she had a very acute sense of smell and hearing...it's what saved my flank multiple times, "I'd really like to see what's inside this place."

With a sigh, Widow conceded to our votes and agreed, "Fine, if anyone spots any sort of power switch, you may activate it."

"Thank God." Ghost sighed, "Hold up...radar went dead..."

Artemis' lips curled into a grin on the top left corner of my HUD, "Of course, they've been creepin' 'round us for some time now."

"And you didn't tell us, WHY!?" Ghost asked, his face burning a bit in anger.

"Cuz they don't seem intent on attacking, didn't want to get everypony all worked up over nothing." she flashed her head around a corner and quickly brought it back, her face going blank in shock.

"Wh-what!? What'd you see!?" Ghost asked, bringing his AR up cautiously.

"First..." don't point your lights upwards...we don't want to scare the pack of whatever's up there..." she said, taking a breath while Widow and I brought-up our respective weapons, "Second...something big just creeped by at the end of that hallway...I recommend we don't go that way...I'd rather not encounter something...Uh, big while I can't see it properly."

We all agreed to continue to follow the hallway as we were, trying to ignore the clicking and scuttling noises from above and behind. I had to admit, though...it was creepy as buck...must be similar to what it feels like to be stalked by Artemis.

"Listen...as much as I'd like to NOT say this..." Ghost suddenly said after about an hour of paranoid walking, "I think we should split up to find...anything." he groaned, "We've been doing this for quite a while and all we've found it wall and something creeping around corners."

"...true..." Artemis agreed, snickering slightly.

"Fine. Artemis, Ghost..." Widow pointed at a hallway which split off from our current one, a blue waypoint appearing over it's entrance thanks to a command system Ghost built into her armor systems.

"Ma'm?" the two asked in unison.

"Follow that hallway. Pip and I will see what we can find further down here." she concluded with a nod, "Go."

Ghost ran up to Artemis, clapping her on the shoulder and nodding to her before flipping around the corner and cautiously stalking down it, Artemis trailing close behind, "Stay frosty, guys." Artemis warned, "Stay in radio contact in case anything happens."

"Same to you two." Widow responded, "Let's go, I'll take point."

The two of us continued down the dark abyss, the continuous sound of the horde around us, on the outskirts of the flashlight, pestering my ears. Eventually, and thankfully, we reached an end to the hallway. There was a door, slightly opened as if there was a malfunction in it's mechanism. Widow told me to watch her back while she tried to see what was inside, so I turned around, aiming my helmet light down the way we came. I caught a glimpse of...of...well, something skirt out of the light, as well as glints from...I guess their eyes in the light.

"I...I think this is...maybe the control room!" Widow exclaimed, standing back upright, "Lemme try to get this open."

I nodded, gulping from having to watch what appeared to be a large mass of dangerous and unknown enemies stare me down from within the shadows. I could even still hear their movement above us...this was probably the second most traumatizing experience I have ever had, with the first being my first mission ever...Celestia, I regret everything that happened that night...sorry, going off on a tangent, there. Thankfully, I heard a lovely click, followed by the sweet sound of sliding metal against metal, then a small sigh of relief from my commander.

"Alright, slowly make your way back into this room." Widow ordered, "Slowly...don't excite those things..."

I did as I was told, very slowly and carefully creeping backwards. I didn't want to take my sight away from their direction, fearing they'd attack. After a few moments, I passed the doorway and saw Widow, her back against the inside wall directly to the right of the door, waiting to close it. Suddenly, with a screech, one of those THINGS charged into the light. A few others followed, moving with the jittery speed of Drones and agility of Skirmishers. Widow slammed the control panel on the door while I opened fire, LWC on full-auto, to hold them as the door slid shut. While it closed decently fact, it felt like an agonizingly long time. The doors slammed shut and multiple sounds of clattering and banging rang from the other side. I could hear myself breathing heavily, almost having been ripped apart by those things. Due to the minimal lighting, I was still unable to get a good look at them, though...

"Well fuck..." Widow muttered, taking a deep, calming breath, "Let's see what we can find around here, shall we?"

I nodded and turned to the room we were in, since we were safe from the horde out there..for now. Scanning the area a few times, we concluded that this was in fact a control room of sorts, yet we couldn't find anything which looked as though it would turn on anything...

"Hey! I found...Uh..." Widow held-up what looked like a holo-disk, turning it over in her hands to try and figure-out how to turn it on, "Uhmm...one moment." after a couple of moments, she eventually shouted, "AHAH!" and held the disk out, a dim purple image popping-up in front of us, "It's the layout of the entire facility! Score!"

Widow activated a scanning device in her helmet and quickly downloaded the plans into her system, a mini-map appearing in her HUD in replacement of the bugged radar, "Here, sending you the map now. It's even got the names of all of the rooms and translated them to English for ya."

Just as she said, the map data started loading to my HUD. It only took a few second then everything was all set and in working order.

"Artemis, Ghost..." Widow pressed a button on her helmet to activate long-distance communication with the rest if the team, "You copy?"

"Yeah, we're here." Ghost responded.

"Got a little problem, though." Artemis interjected, "Part of that horde followed us and suddenly went berserk. We had to hole-up in a storage room..."

"Basically the same happened to us." Widow stated, sighing, "But I found schematics for the whole place and will be uploading then to your HUD in a moment."

"Sweet...this only adds to how excited I am to prove to Ghost our location." Artemis laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Widow asked, absentmindedly looking over some of the other objects in the room while I leaned against the wall to wait.

"Well...I say we found a prototype weapons stash, because I KNOW weapons." Smartemis explained, "But Ghost disagrees."

"Damn right I do!" Ghost's voice boomed in over the radio, "They wouldn't just leave all this stuff lying around here!"

"Hey, I know weapons!" Artemis shouted back.

I laughed while Widow diffused the argument by stating the schematics, which were in the process of being sent to their suits, agreed with Artemis, as it was labeled "Prototype Weapons Storage."

'To think...she was reduced to a crying foal only yesterday...' I thought, 'I hope she finds whatever she's looking for from Luna soon before she goes insane...er than she already is.'

"Alright, alright!" Widow suddenly shook me out of my thoughts, yelling at the two debating soldiers, "Listen, take scans of EVERYTHING," she demanded, "And I mean everything. Afterwards, see what you can easily carry and use...just be careful. It's unknown alien tech. On top of that, they're all prototypes, so..."

"Don't blow yourself the buck up?" Artemis suggested, "Well that's a given, really."

"Right..." Ghost added hesitantly.

"Also, when you're done with that...if you could make your way to this room here." Widow marked a waypoint on our maps, indicating a room titled "Power Center", "It'd be really great if you could turn the lights on."

"Alright..." Artemis responded somewhat unsurely, "It'll be a while, though. We have to find a way around those things outside the door."

Widow thought for a moment, scrutinizing the map, before suggesting an alternate route, "Use the engineering shaft. It's a bit small, but you should fit, seeing as both of you are smaller than the Brutes which used it originally."

"Hey, yeah!" Artemis shouted joyfully, "Leads practically RIGHT to the Power room, too!"

Widow nodded, "Alright, take those scans, plant some charges, and get to the power room." Widow sighed, looking to the source of continuous clattering and banging: the door," Squirt and I are stuck here until you get the power on..."

"Yes, Ma'm!" Artemis shouted before cutting the connection.

"Pip...what do you think goes through that head of hers?" Widow asked with a sigh, leaning back against a desk of sorts.

I shrugged in response.

"...heh, yeah...I don't think she even knows most of the time." Widow snickered slightly, "But what I wanna know is why Luna seems to take such an interest in her? I know Halsey and the rest of her staff only see her wrecked mental state, yet prevailing capabilities to still function properly, as a big and exciting experiment..." she paused, "But Luna...What could Luna possibly see in Artemis that makes her so interesting? Can't be her warrior skills...nor her royal status...not her stature, and certainly not her 'in-your-fucking-face-BITCH' personality...so WHAT!?"

I thought back to the times I've witnessed Artemis and Luna together...the first time was when Luna personally admitted the Spartan Graduates into an official position...this was two years before me, as Artemis is older than me and she GREATLY excelled at everything necessary to be a warrior. I still witnessed the induction, and Artemis had, quite literally, pounced upon the princess, pinning her and blatantly shouting, "You are EXTREMELY sexy!"

She was quickly tackled to the floor by a multitude of soldiers, then nearly court marshaled, but Luna interjected after dusting herself off, actually thanking Artemis for the compliment. The next time they personally met, and first time they formally talked, was when Halsey was showing-off the capabilities of her Spartan-IVs to the higher-ups. Luna was present and, after Artemis had wrecked the practice course, Luna decided to personally congratulate her. As I was another Spartan taking part in the demonstration, I overheard the two hitting it off about how much of an "uptight bitch Halsey was." I was legitimately surprised to hear Luna, a royal Princess, use such language but...well, after all, there are reasons she's still my favorite Princess!

After that...they would meet every now and then if one of Artemis' missions happened to be where Luna was Stationed at the time...as far as I knew, anyway. After the mission on Earth where we diffused the extremist Anti-Pony party, Artemis and Luna appeared to see less of eachother, but...I have a suspicion, now that I think back, that they had been sneaking-off to do...I don't know. I don't think they've actually gone at it, but from that picture I caught Artemis with...well, they were probably doing SOMETHING many wouldn't like...please don't tell Luna I said any of that...

"Pip...? H-hello! Squirt!"

I jumped out of my thoughts, shaking my head and looking around frantically before realizing Widow was trying to get my attention.

"Rookie, I think you zoned out for a while there." she laughed, "Artemis just contacted me, explaining that she and Ghost are on their way to the Power Center."

I nodded my head in understanding.

"So get ready to head-out again. We still don't know what we're going to be fighting against out there."

I quickly checked over all of my equipment and supplies. After everything was set...I waited...wondering what Luna was doing at that very moment. I don't know why, but my train of thought had gotten Luna and her feelings towards Artemis stuck in my head.

I'mma firin' mah LAZOR!!!

...Y...esss...I will not deny the fact that I spend more time with Artemis than is necessary for the scheduled check-ups on her team. And...and what about my what, with her!? N-no-!...a-a lie detector?...Hehe, s-sure! But this is an invasion of my privacy, Miss Halsey!...I have nothing to hide...a-at all...okay, so...what's your first question?...WHAT!? N-no! I did NOT provide Artemis with lewd images of my own body!...what's that beeping mean...?...Oh...okay...well...this is embarrassing...yes, fine...I will provide nothing but the truth from here on...can you please detach this machine from me, please?...thank you. Alright, so...What is it you want to know this time?...what was I doing after the discovery of the bio-soldiers? Oh that's all!...well...

"Oh...Tia...please, if you're still out there somewhere...give me a sign, a symbol that they'll return okay..."

There I stood, waiting on my new, precious moon as I watched the Earthly sun shine off in the distance...without my sister...since our arrival and inclusion in the Earthly culture, I was allowed to at least stake land-mark ownership over ALL of the Moons on planet Jupiter. Don't know HOW I grabbed that deal, but I wasn't going to complain...I figured maybe I'd start a small network of cities or something up there. It'd be nice and quaint.

"I just don't know what I'd do if I lost them too..." I muttered sadly, "If I lost Artemis..." I sniffed, wiping away a small tear, "I'd be left with nothing but corrupted memories and fading friends."

This "job" as a War Commander was...tiring...I feel as though I've had to deal with all those years Celestia had to deal with as Solitary Princess, all in a tiny fraction of the time! Was I just weak, or was I just...losing it? I wasn't made to command war...Nightmare Moon might have been, but that's not me, not anymore. At least...I hope so...I had to use some of Her power to get out of that mess I set-up back on Earth, and...since then...I've just wanted to KEEP USING IT. I've been getting tired of just watching while everypony fought and died...for our lost home...for me...I just feel like I'm doing nothing to help them...and it's been making me depressed. Depressed that I couldn't save my sister, couldn't save Twilight's friends, couldn't save everypony that died on Equis, couldn't save everypony that's died since then...but I think Artemis knew how to deal with all of that loss.

The first time we talked, formally, that is, I asked her what made her decide to take part in the Spartan program. She quickly answered with,

"'Cuz nothing is more fun than killing some sons of bitches!"

I was quite taken aback at this statement...but over time...she eventually opened-up. Albeit, it took years of prodding, her sever mental breakdown when an idiot recruit training with the sticky grenade launchers nearly stuck her, and the Thanksgiving Day Celebration, but she finally told me why she does all of this, for real. I'm sorry, Miss Halsey, but that information is something I'm not allowed to share...there is nothing you can do to make me give-up that information, under ANY circumstances...Yes, I am sure...but...I will say this, though: She knew how to level with me, how to make me feel...better.

I didn't know if it was just her convoluted mind somehow being able to think of ways to console me, or if she just knew what to say and do...or...if she just wanted to get into bed with me...I honestly wasn't sure, and still am not sure. Perhaps it was a mix of all three which drove her, hehe. That's part of the reason why Artemis is so amazing, you just never knew what to expect from her, but you knew that, whatever she did, it was great. Yes, this unpredictability was not really a very good quality to a soldier, but she made it work.

If I remember correctly, Miss Halsey, the last thing Artemis said to me before heading off on that mission, was this:

"It's never a good thing to bottle-up your emotions. I'm living proof of that. So next time somepony plucks your nerves...don't be afraid to 'accidentally' let ol' Nightmare slip out for a moment or two."

...As I thought back on those words...I started to realize that maybe she wasn't expecting to come back...as of she knew something would go astray...I'm sorry...I really don't want to talk about this anymore...if you'll excuse me, Ma'm, I should go now...I don't want to look like this mess when the party finally starts...thank you.

Why...why was Princess Luna crying when she just left...? Is she okay?...oh...okay...I see...I hope Luna can pull herself back together soon. It would be a shame if she missed the party...yes Ma'm? Oh, sure. I can continue now, if you want. Where did I leave off, again? Oh yeah! Artemis and Ghost were on their way to turn the power on...

"Alright, I think we found the master switch..." Artemis finally announced after about an hour of radio silence.

"Good. Activate when ready." Widow commanded, "Just...really be ready."

"Pfft, I'm always ready!" Artemis joked...I think.

Widow looked to me, probably with a concerned stare behind her visor, and I shrugged. A few moments later, a loud bang, followed by the sounds of a multitude of electric spikes, grinding gears, and amping energy filled the entire facility, while the horde of bio-soliders finally ended their barrage on the door, probably scurrying out of the lights which had filled the halls and the rooms.

"Finally!" Widow sighed in relief, switching her helmet light off while I did the same, "God, I love my eyes."

"Alright! VISION!" Ghost cheered over the radio, "Now that we can see...I can see that we're all screwed! Fuck, run!"

I looked sharply to Widow, who slammed a hand to her radio switch, shouting for Ghost and Artemis' names, "The entire horde of those crazy things knew we were here! They flooded to the door and quickly broke it down, and now Artemis and I are running like MAD!" he exclaimed, while gunfire rang-out in the background, "Stop wasting time and just focus on running!" Ghost shouted.

"Buck me, that is A LOT of tangos!" Artemis shouted worriedly.

"Guys! Head...uhh...I don't know!" Widow searched through the virtual schematics of the building, trying to find a good spot for them to hole-up in, "Uhmm...got it!" Widow grabbed her equipment and ran to the door, opening it without hesitation while I swiftly followed her, "Head to the Construction Room! We'll meet you there!"

"What good will the Construction Room do us!?" Ghost asked, his voice filled with panic.

"I recognize a symbol indicating a piece of Covey equipment which will REALLY help us out." she explained, "Just go! You'll see what I mean when you get there!"

Widow cut communications to focus on running after that. I galloped quickly beside her, hoping like mad that Ghost and Artemis would make there all right. But I was also curious as to what Widow was expecting to find in that room...she said she recognized a symbol indicating something on the map, but what would that mean?

"Rookie, listen. As soon as we get into that room, wait at this door," a marker appeared on my minimap at the door Artemis and Ghost would be entering through, "for Artemis and Ghost. Signal to me AS SOON as they make it through the door, got it?"

I nodded, but I still didn't know what she had planned...

"Just trust me on this one, there's going to be something big in that room which we can use to our advantage." she assured.

So we ran, hard and fast. Soon enough, I reached the door indicated as the Construction Room west entrance and I immediately slammed the consol to open it. The instant it was wide enough to fit through, we charged in to probably the BIGGEST room I had ever seen...and to top it off, there was a half-constructed Scarab right smack in the center.

"Oh yeah, time to raise hell again!" Widow laughed, racing to the monstrous War Machine, "Go! Watch the door! Keep it open for them to run through!"

I quickly acknowledged her command and ran to the opposite door, the East door. It was a hell of a run, though. I mean, this room had to fit SCARABS in it. As I ran by, I noticed unfinished sets of Wraiths, Ghosts, Revenants, Banshees, and many, many other vehicles. Plus, there were even a few finished constructions which I did, and did not, recognize.

"Rookie! Hurry it up!" Widow shouted over radio, "I'm already almost in the control room of this thing!"

I looked over my shoulder for a moment to see Widow pulling herself onto the Scarab's back, apparently having scaled the entire thing from the unfinished, skeletal leg, up. Of course...Scarabs are her favorite vehicle, having hijacked a multitude of them before I joined the team. When I finally reached the door, out of breath, I slammed the console, again, and peered out into the hallway to find three...THINGS, turning to look at me with what I had to assume was confusion. These creatures definitely had the vibe of a bio-soldier, much like the Drones which we were all used to: Somewhat of an insect like exoskeleton, one even had wings, but each also had a muzzle and feathers which resembled the Skirmishers. On top of this, each wore gas tanks, like the Grunts, except they were all rigged with plasma mines.

"Buck."

I quickly whipped my LWC up, flipping it's setting to a three-burst, and tapped the trigger multiple times. The closest V2, as we have come to call them, was ripped apart, it's right arm disintegrating with a shriek as it's left arm fired the Needler it held randomly. The second, wielding a Plasma Pistol, attempted to pounce on me, but I sidestepped and whacked the back of it's head-I think-and caused it to smack face-first into the ground. Before it could recover, I sent one burst of bullets into the back of it's skull. Immediately after, though, the last, the one with wings, tackled me off my hooves. I rolled, though, and quickly aimed back up at it, opening fire. To my dismay, the winged V2, which was purple instead green, unlike the other two, deflected each burst with the same type of wrist shields Skirmishers would use.

I was just flipping the setting to full-auto when it charged at me again. It slammed one of the shields into my rifle, knocking it out of my hands before zipping behind me with the help of it's wings to dodge a jab I sent it's way. Before I could entirely turn around, it tackled me again, pinning me to the ground beside the second V2 I killed...and that's when the first one exploded in a mix of plasma and methane. As I held the V2 commander's jaws at bay, I looked over to see the mines on the dead V2's tank flashing red. Thinking quickly, I put all I had into flipping the V2 over so that it blocked the impending explosion. I did this just in a nick of time, as the mines exploded and I was sent skidding and rolling a couple of meters back, the V2 commander vaporizing in front of me.

After laying there for a couple of moments, I clambered back to my hooves, shaking myself off as Widow contacted me over the radio, "Well buck, kid...nice job handling yourself out there. Looks like you've been learning a thing or two from Artemis!"

At that, I sniffed the air and smelled something burning. Upon turning around and looking over my shoulder, I saw a small portion of my tail was on fire. I quickly patted it out with my hoof then went back to the door, scooping my LWC into my grasp on the way there.

"Artemis, Ghost! Your situation? How close?" Widow asked over an open broadcast.

"Only a couple a' meters left!" Artemis shouted, "But those shits are right on our flanks!"

"Don't worry. I've got this covered." Widow assured, "Just get in here!"

I waited and watched for a couple more seconds when Artemis and Ghost suddenly burst around the corner of the hallway. Artemis attempted to make the turn too sharply, though, and ended-up skidding into the wall before continuing on her way, though she stumbled and started to fall behind.

"We see you!" Artemis shouted.

"Good! Hurry up or you're screwed!" Widow ordered.

I looked over my shoulder at the sound of something big charging-up to find that the front, mouth canon of the Scarab was charging and being aimed directly at the doorway...she was going to DEMOLISH US!

"What? What are you talking about!?" Artemis asked frantically.

"Just run...FASTER!" Widow answered, "You have about five seconds left!"

Ghost sprinted by me as the swarm of V2s began flooding around the corner, nipping at Artemis' tail. They scuttled across the walls, floor, and ceiling...I couldn't see any sign of any surface under all of them!

"Five seconds!?" Artemis could see the glow of the charge ahead, and putting two and two together...she answered with, "OH YOU MOTHER BUCKING BITCH!"

I pushed Ghost away and leaned around the corner of the doorway, reaching a hoof out to Artemis to pull her in.

"Two!"

"BuckmylifebuckmylifebuckmylifebuckmyLIFE!"

"ONE!"

At this point...I thought we were both as good as ash, but, well, as you can see, I'm still alive, so...

"FIRING!!!"

Artemis' hoof grasped mine and, using the momentum, I swung her around as the massive plasma energy surged into the hallway. The noise and heat was so intense, I could just feel my body burning and it wasn't even touching me. I don't really remember exactly how it happened, or how close the two of us were to being reduced to nothing, but when I opened my eyes, Artemis was laid out on top of me and the entrance to the hallway had melted into molten-like goo which was already hardening. My lungs were heaving, and my arm really hurt from being jerked so hard when I pulled Artemis, plus my ears rang slightly and my eyes burned a little, but...the two of us were alive.

I was pretty sure Artemis was in a similar state, if not more tired from all the running she did to make it here, and the fact that I could hear her own heavy breathing reinforced my thought.

"Well shit..." Artemis muttered, ripping her helmet off suddenly as she leaned-up off of me, though she was still on top of my torso, "Thought I was screwed..." she muttered, her chest heaving.

She set her helmet down beside her and removed mine, looking it over before tossing it aside and, then, without warning, leaned down and planted her lips to mine. She then proceeded to delve deeper into this my forcing her tongue into MY mouth, moaning in the slightest bit...After about fifteen seconds of a total brain shut-down, I hit reality again, noticing that my right leg was twitching and my eyes were probably as wide as plates, when she leaned back, a bit of saliva hanging from her exposed tongue...connected my lip.

"As far as you're concerned, kid, we are now even." she stated with a wink before getting entirely off of me, refitting her helmet back on.

Of course...I was still too shocked to get up. I mean, if anypony like Artemis suddenly just invaded your mouth like that, you would feel more violated than being in a tentacle hentai...excuse the obscene comparison, but...ugh...I get shivers thinking about it...

"Yo...Squirt...you okay?"

At the sound of Ghost's voice, I came back into my senses and took his outstretched hand so I could get up. He handed me my helmet before nudging my shoulder, grinning and winking while pointing at Artemis, who was brushing herself off.

I shot him a quick, yet deadly glare, as if to say, "SHUT. UP." then put my helmet back on.

"Well...as much as I'd like to say that was great plan...I kinda feel bad about nearly ending both of you." Widow said sheepishly, walking up to the three of us while rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it..." Artemis responded, waving a hoof while I nodded in agreement, "I'll just get back at you later."

"R...right...well..." Widow looked around hastily, "We should take scans of everything in here, then finish setting all the charges so we can just get the fuck out of this hell-hole."

"Agreed." Ghost quickly said, "Because I'd rather not encounter what else they have stored in this place."

"I, admittedly, second that." Artemis added, "As much fun as it would be to battle the other crazy shit in here, I just wanna go home...I don't want to do this shit anymore. Not right now, anyway."

We all looked to Artemis in shock...if she thought it was bad, then we knew...IT WAS BAD.

"Alright, then...but we still have to place the rest of the charges." Widow reminded, "I've marked waypoints on every remaining spot which needs them. Now the question is...do we split up again?"

Action Filler

I think that near-death experience shocked Artemis back into her previous state of home-sickness, because the entire time we discussed what the next best plan of action would be, she just sat against the wall and brooded silently. I was a bit worried she would be unable to help any further in the mission, but just as we decided on what to do, she got right up and joined us.

"Alright, our desire to leave has beaten our desire to stick together so...splitting up into the same groups as before." Widow announced, "Got it? Shoot to kill every time. Take NO chances, and honestly...living over planting bombs this time." Widow grinned, "I want to celebrate Christmas without remorse this year."

We all nodded, fitting our helmets on again. We were all determined to make it out of there alive, right after blowing the place to hell. Again, we went our separate ways: Widow and I would take the second floor, while Artemis and Ghost would finish the first floor then warn all of the soldiers stationed outside of the Factory of the impending explosion. As much as we hated to separate again, we wanted to leave more.

"Let's get this done quickly and smoothly." Widow demanded as we found the passageway to the second floor, via a series of ramps and curves, "Whatever we find lurking up there, just keep running and shoot everything in the way. I've got a perfect path already set-up to allow us to constantly move."

I nodded in understanding, pulling my pistol up with one hoof and taking my combat knife out with the other. As I saw the door to the next floor begin to open ahead of us at the top of the ramp I held the knife-hoof across my chest, the knife aimed out away from me, and rested my pistol-hoof on top of that. If speed was the game, then this was the way to do it.

"Get ready!" Widow shouted, lifting her shotgun and pumping it once, "Lets give' em hell!"

'Indeed,' I thought, gaining an almost Artemis-like grin, 'LETS!'

We burst through the doorway to find, unsurprisingly, a couple more V2s awaiting our arrival. They screeched their fury at us only to be met with a magnum round through the skull as both Widow and I ignored their collapsing corpses. I quickly reloaded before sliding to a near halt to place the already primed cohesive charge on the marked spot. Yes, it was dangerous to carry them already primed, but it was the quickest way to get things done. Doing this, though, placed me a couple feet behind Widow, so as I started to catch-up, she turned a corner into a new enemy. Before I turned the corner as well, I was able to catch her diving over some kind of long and sleek appendage whipping out at her. She rolled to her feet and blasted whatever it was twice, sliding a ways before hitting the wall and ducking under another swipe. I turned the corner at this time and caught a full glimpse of the creature. It appeared to have been created from the base of a Hunter, as the armor of the massive worm-like tanks was attached to it in spots, but it was clearly something different as instead of being a lumbering monster, this was a slithering, tentacled eel...of sorts.

"Keep running!" Widow demanded, "This'll take too long to handle!"

I continued to run, jumping over a swipe from the creature while Widow dashed out of the way of another tentacle to continue on our run through the hall. I had to dodge a couple more attacks from the thing before I was seemingly out of range, but, at the sound of some sickening slithering and slurping, I looked over my shoulder to see the beast convulse and actually MORPH it's appearance into a shape which resembled any normal hunter, except this version proved to be MUCH larger, and MUCH more agile, as it quickly began to pursue us in lumbering bounds, roaring furiously.

"Well fuck." Widow half laughed, "I dub thee, Leviathan!" she shouted, slamming another explosive on the wall as she turned another corner without even slowing.

Leviathan...fitting name for this thing, actually. I turned the corner directly behind her, spotting multiple V2s of varying form ahead of us. Some looked just like the one's we had been running into, but it turned-out these things had much more than two variants. Along with two standard and two wrist-shielded V2s, I saw three which had blade-like appendages instead of actual arms, and three more which had more powerful-looking lower bodies and large, battering-ram-like heads.

"We can't slow down!" Widow reminded, "Open fire, but don't stop moving!"

As if to reinforce this statement, I heard the Leviathan inelegantly slam into the walls a ways behind us. It could probably get pretty darn fast if given the room, but seeing as it took some time to reach a good speed, AND it was terrible at making turns, it would be easy to outrun in the curving halls...at least, if the V2s weren't in our way.

"Go' it!" I shouted, taking aim.

The entire platoon of V2s screeched and began to barrel down the hall at us, while we did the same towards them. With the use of an entire clip, I was able to take-out one of the bladed V2s as well as both of the winged V2s. The rest of my bullets bounced off the shields of the purple ones and the apparently very dense skull-caps of the brown, ram-headed ones. Without the time to reload, I thought quickly, kicking my sprint into overdrive for a moment to take the lead in front of Widow, then jumped, aiming my back hooves at the front of the pack in the V2s.

I landed both hooves on the purple freak, it's shields being if no use here, and slammed my knife into it's chest as the momentum I carried caused me to slide across the hall on top of the V2, riding it like a skateboard while I reloaded my magnum. As I reached the second V2, I ripped my knife up and out, jamming a hoof down on the dead beast's head and causing us to flip into the air above the brown, ram-headed V2 which almost collided with me. As I sailed through empty air, I started to feel one of those moments Artemis always enjoyed telling me about...it was as if time itself were slowing to a near stop, and everything, every single detail, down to the small smudge on my magnum, was enhanced. All of my senses were on overdrive, forcing every last sight, sound, smell, taste, and feeling into my mind, which then spewed-out a plan of action in the time it took an electron to move...I had to admit...it was pretty damn sweet.

Seemingly in slow motion, I fired three bullets at the brown V2 as I soared over it. The first caught it's right knee, the second, it's right side as it started to stumble, and the third buried itself into that thick head of its by bursting through it's upturned jaw and barreling through to it's brain. With that down, all that was left were the two remaining red, blade-armed V2s, two more brown, ram-headed V2s, and one more purple, wrist-shielded V2. With that thought in mind, I landed and quickly spun around, readying my knife for an attack of any kind. Luckily, I was able to bring the knife up just in time to block a slash from one of the bladed V2s, though it had another bladed arm so I was forced to roll out of the way of the second swipe.

And again...THAT was when the explosions ensued. Just as I was getting back to my hooves, one of the V2s exploded at the end of the hallway and knocked me off balance, then the two others exploded and forced me onto my rump. When I opened my eyes again, all I saw was brown, and before I could realize what this meant, a powerful smack, along with a couple crunches and cracks, rang through my ears while pain rang through my entire body, from my skull and my chest to everywhere else.

The collision caused me to roll across the floor a couple of meters, pain and more pain spiking through me constantly while my ears rang. When I looked over upon stopping, I saw karma hit the ram-headed V2 like a wall of bricks as it's companion I killed a few moments ago exploded next to it while it was turning to come at me for another charge. This still left four enemies and I was not in the condition to defend myself. This realization really sank in when, with the alert of a pair of inpony screeches, the two bladed V2s started to come down upon me with their blades...thought I was as good as mince meat, there.

"Fuck no!"

The two V2s were blasted off their feet by one, close range blast from Widow's shotgun. One of them was dead on the spot, but the other began to get back up, whining in anger and pain.

"Good, fucking, night!" Widow shouted, delivering a skull-crunching kick to the side of it's head before blasting another shot into it's body, "Pip! Get up!" she ordered, "I know you're hurt, but you can't afford to be! The Leviathan is on it'a way!" Widow quickly kicked the dead V2s away so their blue explosions would't affect her.

Through my cracked visor, I slowly started to force myself back to my hooves, ignoring the pain in my chest and jaw as best as I could. Looking to my right, I clearly saw the Leviathan almost halfway down the hall to us, and quickly speeding up as it shook the foundation with every step. Putting it out of my mind, I grabbed my knife, ignoring my lost magnum as it was further behind me and closer to the Leviathan.

"Oh shit!"

I snapped my head back to Widow, wincing when the sudden movement sent a spike of pain through my jaw, to see she was directly in the line of impact that the last ram-headed V2 was heading. Her shotgun would be useless against that thing's head. Thinking on my hooves, I took sloppy aim and pitched my knife at the thing, hoping to do something that would knock it off course. To my luck, I did more than that, I lodged the knife into one of it's legs, RIGHT into a joint. This sudden intrusion into it's body forced the monster to collapse mid stride and roll painfully across the ground, coming to a complete stop right at Widow's feet.

"Well fuck." she casually aimed and blasted it point blank with her shotgun before removing my knife from it's leg, "Let's go!"

I nodded, grabbing my side and limping towards Widow as best I could. She met me halfway and started to help me along while the last brown V2 exploded. Those things really got annoying, exploding after death and all...

"Fuck, we're not ganna make it!" she shouted, the frightening roar of the Leviathan reaching our ears, not far behind us. Making a somewhat painful decision, I let go of Widow and charged ahead quickly, making ten painful yet far steps before lunging and rolling, landing not far from the door, but forcing pain all through my body yet again. Luckily, Widow was at my side in an instant and she started dragging me to the door, "Jesus, kid..." she muttered, looking down at me, "Wait...where's that last bug-thing?"

As if it was waiting for this, the remaining V2 dropped from the ceiling and latched onto Widow's back, it's wings starting to buzz while it gripped her tightly.

"Gah! Let go you little shit!" Widow shouted, struggling to get it off of her. Obviously it ignored her pleas, beginning to lift her with what appeared to be a wry grin. This thing thought it had won, but Widow suddenly stopped struggling and instead seemed to relax entirely. I was about to think she had given up, but she, out of no where, just slipped through the thing's grasp and fell to the ground, landing with one arm limp and the other pulling out her pistol. The bugger quickly put the shields up, though, and blocked every bullet, landing in front of Widow with the grin seeming to reappear.

"Damn..." Widow frantically tried to reload with just her one hand, but ended-up dropping her pistol, "Damn!"

The V2 was about to raise it's weapon, a Plasma Rifle, in triumph, but Widow saw something that it did not and dove to the ground, covering her head. When I myself looked behind the V2, I saw the doors which Widow and I had been trying to reach begin to slide open, the tip of a very large rifle barrel poking through. When I looked past that, Artemis was standing there, holding Undertaker in a ready stance with a sadistic and joyful smile while Ghost was standing behind her and bracing her body for the recoil. Damn bug didn't even know what hit it...

With it's signature sonic boom of a blast, Undertaker's bullet turned the V2 into a pile of smoking goo. The bombs didn't even explode; the bullet wiped them out before they could arm themselves. Of course, the bullet wasn't done there. Switching my sight back to the Leviathan, I saw a HUGE chunk of it suddenly explode and become ripped apart when the bullet hit it; Artemis definitely had her Armor piercing rounds in. The monstrous beast roared loudly in pain, falling to the ground and sliding down the hall towards us because of the momentum it carried while it was still running.

"Goddamn, that was close!" Widow shouted, grunting and flinching when her snapped her shoulder back into place before picking up her pistol, "Now let's get the fuck out of this thing's way!" She grabbed me again and started to drag me through the doorway as the Leviathan continued to surge closer. When we passed the doorway, it turned-out that it was another ramp-way between the floors, and that both Artemis and Ghost were forced backwards down the ramp, since they were in a tangled mess at the bottom of it.

"WHY do you need a gun like that!?" Ghost shouted, hopping back to his feet.

Artemis rolled back onto her front hooves before kicking up and landing on her back hooves, brushing herself off, "You know me: Overdoing stuff is what I love!" she started to laugh, but suddenly stopped, bringing a hoof up to her chin in thought, "Hmm...that sounds very dirty...I gatta remember that for a later time, hehe."

Widow shook her head and smacked both of them in the back of the head before grabbing me again and dragging me further down the ramps, "We gatta get out of this rapway or we'll become a mixed stain on the ground from that giant pile of worms!"

At first, Artemis and Ghost just stood there and stared at us in confusion, but as we rounded the second ramp, the mangled Leviathan burst through into the ramp way, goo, slime, and debris flying everywhere as it started to collapse the ramp system.

"HOLY FUCK!" Ghost immediately sprinted down the ramps after us.

Artemis, though, grabbed Undertaker and was forced to jump off the ramp walkways into the space between the ramps. The ramps were all attached to the walls, so...she just fell down five flights of ramps. Ghost, on the other hoof, managed to reach us as Widow was dragging me off the last ramp. Thankfully, Artemis had already opened the door for us and we all quickly ran through just as the entire room practically collapsed in on itself, with the Leviathan both on top of, and underneath all of it.

Widow set me up against a wall and leaned over, taking quick and heavy breaths, "Seriously...we all need vacations..."

Artemis, with the tip of Undertaker, poked a bit of the Leviathan which had been detached from the main body and had ended-up out there with us, then giggled like a little filly when it wiggled, "I wanna keep it..." she muttered, slinging her enormous rifle around her and picking up the somewhat slimy thing into her hooves, "I'll call it Sluggy."

The rest of us, at that instant, all facehoofed at the same time.

Returning to the End...or...Beginning? Eh, let's go with BOTH.

"Well, this changes plans a bit." Widow announced, stepping back from me and sighing, "Pip's not in ANY condition to continue on in this place. We need to get him out."

I wanted to protest, but I knew she'd shut my argument down in an instant, so...I did my normal thing and remained silent.

"But...we have to finish the charges." Artemis added, "There's still three dozen more that need to be placed, thanks to that Leviathan." the small, worm-like parasite which Artemis had decided to keep wiggled and swiveled it's way from around her shoulders to the top of her head at the sound of it's...old self.

"I must admit, that's actually kinda cute." Ghost said, chuckling slightly.

"Right, right, anyway," Widow continued the conversation, "So how do we deal with this?"

"I'll stay behind to finish the charges." Artemis volunteered, "And one of you two take Pip out of here so the other can help me finish. Simple."

Widow looked unsure about this. She had taken her helmet off to examen my damaged body, so it rested by my side. I looked at it absentmindedly while the other three discussed the plan. I felt down for being the cause of this roadblock...I must have been showing it too, since Widow suddenly knelt down with a reassurring smile.

"Hey, kid, don't feel bad about this. You were amazing in the way you dealt with the adversity." she explained, "In fact, I'm sure Artemis would have been proud at your aerial performance and quick thinking.

We looked to Artemis to see her giggling and playing with Sluggy.

"...I think..."

Well, ma'm, we are nearing the end of this debrief, it would seem. We're almost back to where I started...I still can't believe the Brutes managed to get an actual mind into the station's systems, though! You'd think those apes would be too...dense to have accomplished a feat such as that. I also can't believe that we had been watched by this same mind the entire time, since turning the power back on...anyway, I guess I'll continue.

"So...Pip...what are you looking forwards to for the Holiday?" Ghost asked, grunting slightly as my make-shift sled got caught...again.

We used some of the debris from the Leviathan's crash as well as some our own rope and stuff to make a little sled for me to be dragged by. It was then decided that Widow and Artemis would finish planting the bombs while Ghost and I left to evacuate the surrounding blockades and what-not.

He looked over his shoulder at me, and I shrugged in response to his question. He rolled his eyes before turnig forwards again, sighing with another grunt.

"You're too silent...gatta enjoy the little things, bro." He huffed, pulling me through a doorway and back into the construction room, "What the hell...?" I looked around him, almost falling off the sled, to see a somewhat daunting armada of mech-like figures which had not been there previously...and even all of the vehicles were FINISHED, "Wha...? When!? HOW!?"

Suddenly, our radios turned themselves on and the image of one of the Prophets appeared in the top right-hoof corners of our visors.

"Hello, Vermin." the image spoke, the figure moving as it talked, "Well, no, where's my hospitality? Plus, you did bring me back to life, so I shouldn't be so rude." he continued, while both Ghost and I just sat there, awed and shocked, "I swear, it was becoming quite an insane ordeal in all that darkness, but then you up and brought me back up! I swear, why those damn Brutes shut me down to begin with escapes my reasoning..."

"...but...you're all dead...Chief killed the rest of you!" Ghost shouted, slowly escaping the clutches of shock.

"Oh, what? He did? Such a shame..." the Prophet spoke somewhat emotionlessly, "You see, I'm not really...alive, persay, at the moment. Aren't you wondering how I'm in your communication system? I AM your communication system!" the self-proclaimed dead alien began to sound hysterical, "I AM the Factory! I was forced inside the AI to make production expediate! And ever since you turned me back on...I've been watching."

Ghost turned to look at me, obviously concerned, "This is bad..." he muttered.

"How do you think all of the Drones knew where to find you so fast? Or why my other...abominations knew just how to reach you?" he continued, "Because I saw, and I am connected to the minds of every, last, peice of technology in here...from the vehicles..." some of the Ghosts started to move, their systems activating without pilots, "to the bio-warriors..." a whole, massive swarm of V2s suddenly dropped from practically everywhere, causing Ghost to step back slowly in fear, "to the machines..." the mech soldiers all came to life, one by one raising their arms and taking ready stances. Ghost shook his head and started to turn to run, but the door closed tight on us, locking us in to our doom, "...and to the doors, as well."

"Fuck..." Ghost whispered, staring at the door sadly.

"Welcome to MY world, Vermin! Once I am finished with the two of you, which won't take long at all...I'll use the other two as test subjects for new and improved soldiers!"

Ghost, screamed and slammed a hand to some button one the side of his helmet, disconnecting the communication with the Factory AI using some kind of jamming device he built into our helmets, "Bring it!"

"Please, don't be so bold." the AI's voice rang through the entire room, causing every single last soldier and vehicle to menacingly move to life.

I don't know what exactly Ghost thought he was doing, but he seemed to as he raised his Assault Rifle.

"Let's see what you have, Vermin. I'd love to make a game out of this..." the AI seemed to laugh like a maniac at this, a small force of V2s charging their way to us.

"Pip, I have this handled." Ghost assured me, turning to nod in my direction, "I sent a distress beacon, they'll be here soon."

'Unless they get here in five seconds, we're screwed...' I thought blankly...until Ghost took matters into his own hands.

When the first V2, a blade-armed version, reached us, I thought for sure Ghost was dead, but when the thing brought it's arm down, Ghost just reached up and caught the sharp blade in his hand with a chink.

"What? What is this!?" the AI shouted angrily.

"Titanium gloves reinforced with a plasma gel-layer from your own tech." Ghost explained before pulling the V2 close so he could disembowel it with a couple rounds of AR ammo.

"What are you waiting for, Drones!? Kill him!" the AI screamed angrily, to which the rest of the V2s which came to attack us quickly moved again.

Ghost ripped the arm off of the V2 he just killed, then promptly speared it through the second bio-soldier. I never knew this geeky human had it in him! "That all ya got?" he quickly threw the two dead V2s into the crowd which surrounded us, grunting from the exertion, even though they barely weighed anything due to their bug-like nature. The bio-soldiers, with at least some form of self-consciousness quickly dispersed to avoid the impending explosions, but the mechs just stood there and took it.

"I grow bored of this." the AI suddenly growled, "Kill them, NOW."

Much to my horror, the very Scarab which had saved our lives earlier came to life, turning it's formidable gaze upon us as it's primary head-beam started to charge. Since I was unable to move myself, I looked to Ghost and tried to get his attention, but he just kept ignoring me, standing there and staring straight ahead...

'That's it, he's gone bonkers!' I thought, 'We're BUCKED!'

"Just a few more seconds..." Ghost muttered, clutching something on his back tightly. I looked to see what it was, but I just couldn't tell, "Let's see what'cha got!"

The AI, obviously ticked at being talked down upon by "Vermin," growled, his voice becoming distorted and robotic as he shouted, "Fire!"

I closed my eyes and awaited doom by incineration as the Scarab fired it's white-hot plasma beam at us. At first, all I heard was the sound of the plasma scorching everything it passed, but then, I heard a clang of metal, a small whirring, and a faint blip. When I opened my eyes, both Ghost and I were encased within a standard Bubble Shield, and the plasma was surging around us...we were unharmed!

After a couple of seconds, the plasma barrage ended and the shield evaporated, leaving a triumphant Ghost, and a severely pissed AI, "WHHA-A-AAAT!?" the pseudo-Prophet screamed, his voice stuttering.

"Yeah, anything else?" Ghost asked smugly, raising his middle finger to the army in front of us.

"Ghost...wha' now?" I asked quietly.

Keeping his very elegant symbol of rebellion standing, he leaned in and whispered, "Welp...now...we're fucked."

I nodded, looking out at the slowly approaching army as I wished I could make the same gesture Ghost currently was. Instead, though, I patiently sat there and waited. Didn't have to wait long, though, because a brave purple V2 zipped forwards and aimed straight at me, it's plasma charges flashing to indicate it had the same purpose as the kamikaze Grunts I had seen before. It was just going to up and pin me to to the ground so I would die along with it. I held up a hoof in defense, but Ghost once again saved me by punting the unsuspecting bug away, forcing it to explode in a sad ball of blue flame without accomplishing it's goal.

"Back off, ya pricks! He's hurt! That's just not fair!" Ghost shouted accusingly.

"And I CARE!?" AI shouted, "Go! More of you! Now!"

More kamikazes started lunging at us from every direction, but Ghost continued to force them back with both fists and legs...he was hell bent on keeping them off me. He couldn't hold-out forever, though, and one eventually slipped by...at first I was wondering why they were all focused on just me, and then I remembered I was about to explode...again, so I braced for impact, catching the V2 with my hooves as it hissed. I was unable to force it off on my own, though, and soon realized I would probably die right there...but Ghost, yet again, proved himself stronger than he appeared. He proved to me that he really did fear nothing, not even his own vitality.

"Pip!"

The last thing I saw before the whiteness was Ghost's face flashing a serene grin to me behind his visor while the angry V2 scrambled at the arm which held it back. I just didn't get it then...this was the first time I encountered any members of this team showing such compassion...I mean, Artemis lusted for Luna, but I never thought it was true love. To think...this Ghost actually cared enough about me to up and do something like that...

Well, Ma'm...we appear to be about where I left off...did I already say that? Nevermind...I...actually don't feel comfortable continuing...but, I feel like I have to, don't I?...thought so. Luna could weasel out of it because she's a Princess, and I'm just a grunt...just a grunt...Celestia damnit Artemis...yes, sorry, I will continue...

"Go tell your 'favorite princess' I thought she was hot for me, hmm?"

She was at it again...she was going to make sure every last moving THING in that blasted factory was ENDED.

A blast from some kind of concussion grenade suddenly clouded my vision and mind again, though, and I saw nothing but white yet again...but i could still feel. There was a slight feeling of movement and shaking, then lifting. A couple moments later, my mind flashed back into reality and I found myself with a short, blurry scene. Everything was sideways and shaking; Ghost was being dragged across, what I first thought was, the wall, directly behind me, and Artemis was right behind us, carrying Undertaker, an activated Energy Sword, and two other, alien weapons which I didn't recognize; and V2s were just enveloping every inch of Covey tile. Unfortunately, I passed-out shortly after. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, I surged back into consciousness for another couple of moments to find myself propped-up on...something, and facing the very doors which we had entered though only a couple hours earlier. Groggily rolling my head, I caught a glimpse of Ghost slouched over in a Gauss Warthog, and Widow standing in front of me, appearing to be screaming at something. After a couple seconds I realized somepony was missing, so I looked to the blast doors again to find them closing...with Artemis, her back facing us, still inside...

"-ET YOUR FLANK BACK HERE GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!"

I shook my head, blinking a couple times and taking steadied breaths so clear my thoughts and mind. I still hurt all over, but at the moment, I figured there were more important things than aching sores and broken bones.

"Artemis...fucking ARTEMIS!"

Widow clenched her fists tightly, turning away from the door and glaring down at the ground. It took her a couple of moments to notice I was standing, using the Warthog to support me.

"Get on the gun." she ordered coldly, aggressively hopping into the driver's seat.

I did as I was told, grabbing onto the gun and using it to hoist myself up, then to hold myself up once there. I was about to just not question it, but my better judgement told me it was necessary, so...

"Wha' about Ar'emis?" I asked worried as Widow prepared to floor the pedal.

She suddenly stopped, slowly resting into a relaxed position. After what seemed like forever, she answered, "She's killing them all." Without warning, we screeched-off, speeding away from the Factory, "The charges won't explode unless the timer is set and protected..." Widow sadly explained as she gripped the wheel and swerved out of the way of a mobile barrier left behind by the soldiers which used to man it, "The Factory's systems prevent remote detonation...because we turned it on." Widow almost chocked on her own words, "So we warned everyone to evacuate...and we now have ten more minutes before..."

She stopped after that. She didn't need to go on, and frankly, I didn't want her to...I wish she didn't have to even begin that explanation. It only took us about eight minutes to reach a safe distance. Once there, Widow hopped out of the driver's seat and ran to the passenger side to tend to Ghost, which was also at the same moment I realized he was missing his right arm.

"...he..he'll be fine." Widow stated bluntly, "The explosion cauterized the wound, so he won't bleed out. When we get home, we'll get him a mechanical arm. He'll most likely enjoy this, so...heh, yeah."

I stared at Widow with a dropped jaw...even though she turned out to be correct.

"...zzzrfffey g-zzzzz..."

Widow's head bolted to the radio in the warthog at the sound of the distorted chatter

"...ouzzz ffft-ere?"

Widow dove for the transmitter and boosted the signal, "H-hello? Artemis!?"

"zzzup, fff-foo'?"

"Artemis! You-you're alive!" Widow cried happily.

There it was again...Widow, the cold-hearted, emotionless shell of a human was on the verge of tears. What happened to this team to actually make them human...?

"fff-f-ound P-Pip'szzzz he-el-el-nt. Boo-oozzzz-ted ss-zig-n-n-naaaa-al l-like he-e-e-ell." Artemis seemed to actually laugh...and it sounded creepy as hell through the distorted communication.

"S...so you're ganna make it out?" Widow asked hopefully.

"D-zzzzz-no. Gsszffffff-got th-i-i-i-rty szzzse-c-con-ssss le-e-ffffft."

Not wasting a beat, Widow pressed the receiver and screamed as loud as she could, "Then you get your scrawny flank up and run like hell!"

There was about ten seconds of silence, but she eventually came back, her signal a bit stronger.

"Way azzz-hea-ead of you."

"Run, run...RUN DAMNIT!" Widow screamed, "You cannot die here, you hear me? You CAN-NOT die here!" Widow choked, gritting her teeth and sniffling, "F-fucking run! You have to host the Christmas party! We need you to be there, damnit!"

"I szzee the e-exit."

"Keep running!" Widow demanded, her voice cracking as tears finally began rolling. I was appalled...this was insanity! "Who's going to constantly harass us? Who's going to make every mission interesting? Huh?"

"Five...four..." I turned and looked at the Factory, slowly counting the last seconds as a tiny ebony dot appeared to surge out of the blast doors, which had been blown open, apparently, on our way away from the factory.

"And what of Luna? What of poor Luna, damnit...?" Widow asked, sniffling again as she was unable to keep a solid voice, "How will she cope without you?"

"Three...two..." I grabbed binoculars from a compartment beside the large turret and peered through at the doomed mare.

"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT ARTEMIS DON'T DO THIS!" Widow burst down into a fit of sobs.

Artemis had stopped running, hunched over and breathing heavily from all the exertion...she just couldn't go any further than the doors. At the last second, her head snapped up to reveal the only expression I would expect her to have at this moment: Her eyes were serenely shut, her mane was splayed and disheveled, her ears were down, and her grin was as manic, happy, and comforting as always. Then...

Widow tore the whole radio out and flung it in the direction of the Factory, screaming Artemis' name like bloody murder only to have it ripped away by the explosion. The Warthog rocked over, almost flipping; I was nearly thrown off the Gunner's Mount, but I grabbed onto the gun itself at the last moment; and Widow was blasted off her feet, tumbling a ways before stopping flat on her face.

After that...a whole lot of white. I figure now that I probably passed-out again. But, I could still think, and boy did I think. Fearless Ghost gave-up his own arm for me, Soulless Widow cried and despaired over the loss of one of her subordinates, and Artemis...gave-up everything for us. She stayed behind to hold-off AI's Army so they would remain in the blast and so we could escape. The worst part of it all is that she never would have had to do that if we didn't turn the power on...of course Widow blames herself, as it was her final decision in every choice, so she thinks that she could have prevented this is she had planned things differently. I know she'll never live this down...oh yeah, and that little Sluggy that Artemis kept, it was destroyed in the blast, so don't worry about it.

Ma'm listen, as much as I'd love to stay here and continue to talk about probably the most uncomfortable subject I will ever know, I have a party to attend, and I do not plan on missing it...yes, now, if you'll excuse me...

//Audio track: End\

New Years and New Conspiracies...oh yes, THERE'S MORE.

The few days after Christmas which lead to the New Year's Party were...well, boring. Everyone and everypony was exhausted from the long night, and, along with their normal duties, they just couldn't bring the energy to do much. Of course, with the absence of Artemis, there was never the constant threat of mischievous tricks or playful jokes. Life at the base stationed beside New Mombasa was just like every other base since Christmas...and a few were starting to hate the normalcy of it! Once you get used to the fun of a bit of Chaos here and there...you just can't enjoy life without it.

"Luna, I know this technically isn't your job, but...I mean, allota the soldiers here know you more than most because of the excessive time you spend here." It was the day of New Year's Eve, the actually party starting in only a few hours, and Aerowin spotted Luna exiting one of the computer rooms. He decided he just HAD to confront her about the general mood of every soldier stationed there.

"Aero, listen...I'm somewhat busy..." Luna tried to explain, but she forgot how stubborn the Pilot was, "l really need to-"

"Listen, listen, I know you're busy, I get that! But something seriously needs to happen to get everypony back into the mood of the night soon! Else the whole party will be a bust..."

Luna scowled. He was right, she had to admit. Every last soldier had been a bit down and nothing eventful had happened since Christmas...at least, as far as she knew. One pony, fortunately, or more likely, unfortunately, knew that an event was taking place which would change a lot of things: The entire base, the party, the ENTIRE SYSTEM, but mostly...his own life.

This pony, actually, was walking by Luna and Aero at that moment.

"Pip! Hey! C'mere will ya?" Aero called the tired soldier over, waving him down.

Pip, who had spent the last few nights doing NOTHING but keeping an eye on a certain, mysterious pony, looked over to his friend and Princess with dreary eyes. With a yawn, he slowly began to make his way over, head held low and eyes half open.

"Pip, don't you agree Luna should do something special to help liven this place up?" Aero asked.

Pip looked slowly between the two, his mind not fully functioning due to the sleep deprivation. So...he shrugged, then started to continue on his way. He was too tired to do anything and just wanted to make it back to his bed so he could sleep and apologize to Cross for almost blatantly ignoring her since Christmas. He hated his new job...the description wasn't difficult, it was the target. She was more elusive than Ghost! One moment she'd be sitting in the cafe, the next, she'd be in the next room. Pip just couldn't handle it...it was driving his mind up a wall! Worst part of it all. This pony constantly kept her face, mane, tail, and cutie-mark covered with black fabric. She claimed to be a Freelancer, but The Director's data and tests seemed to prove otherwise. Still, there was no way of proving anything with this mare, so Pip was pretty much told to discover the last digit of Pi without a calculator.

"...what's eating at him?" Aero suddenly asked, "N-nevermind...so Luna, is there really nothing you can do bring a bit more...Chaos, to this base? You know, just some fun to get everypony out of their slump?"

Luna sighed and was about to tell Aero she was sorry that she didn't have the time, but then a thought suddenly came to her...

"Wait...chaos...? You mean, like...a bit of...Discord?"

Aero shrugged, "Uh, yeah, I guess."

Luna almost smacked herself for not thinking of...HIM. In fact, she didn't even know what befell the spirit of Disharmony since the glassing of Equis, but, if she knew the prankster as well as she thought she did, then she was sure he made it out. If she could somehow contact him, then he might actually be able to help out the situation! Yes, he enjoyed causing chaos and anarchy, but to him, it was all in good fun. The only reason it was a REAL problem on Equis was because the entirety of Equestria relied on Harmony to really work properly, but on Earth...the rules were different. It would be a risky move without the Elements, but Luna was sure she could find ways to keep the Jokester at least somewhat restrained...but, she had to find him first.

"Uhm...Luna...you spaced-out on me." Aero muttered, waving a hoof.

"Yes, yes I know, I do that often...Goddess of Night and Moon and all..." she answered, "Listen, you just don't worry about anything, I thought of a way to lighten the mood around here."

Without even giving the green Pegasus a chance to respond, Luna turned and dove into the air, zipping away in a burst of feathers and wind using her superior wings. Aero just stared as she flew off, wondering what just happened.

Pip entered his room to find Cross laughing as the pet they secretly kept squirmed around on her head. He smiled slightly, thanking the little creature for snaking it's way into his armor before they escaped the Factory. At least he had a living reminder of Artemis.

"Pip!...listen..." Cross started to say, "I'm starting to get annoyed at your lack of communication with me." Cross said, suddenly becoming serious as she set the parasite down, "You've been ignoring me and it honestly hurts...I know you really don't talk much, but you used to talk to me, now, you just come back and look tired...what have you been doing?"

Pip sighed. He wanted so bad to explain his new job to Cross, but he couldn't for fear of what Halsey might do to him...or her. Instead, he half-explained his job.

"I...I know ah've been...an i'iot la'ley, but...I go' a job from Halsey that I can't 'ell a'ypony..." he started, "Else you migh' get hurt..."

Cross cross her hooves and seemed to understand, "I see...but I don't like it...we need to spend more time together..." she looked down at Sluggy as it slithered it's way to Pip's hooves and started to snake up his body, "I swear...I think that thing is trying to tell us something, sometimes."

Pip looked at the small worm, as it actually seemed to look back up at him. Maybe this creature WAS trying to tell them something...but what would it have to say? Pip, thinking of a good way to find out, held-out his right front hoof and Sluggy zipped onto it, wrapping itself around him and making itself look like a bracelet.

"What...? How did you...?" Cross stared at Pip and Sluggy in confusion, her mouth slightly agape.

"I 'ave and idea. Walk wi' me?" Pip opened the door and waited for his marefriend to join him.

Cross grinned and hopped off the bed, "Of course!"

Meanwhile, Halsey knew something was wrong with her files. The reason she knew, was that whenever she searched for any files related to Crimson team, except for the recent debrief which she just added, nothing appeared. Someone had hacked her files and erased them, effectively cleaning Crimson Team off the board. The three remaining members now had a clean slate...they were new people...and ponies. It was as if someone had planned this...

"Or somepony." Halsey sneered, "This couldn't have been coincidence. This mission changed the personalities of every member, and at the same time, the files of every prior mission are gone...she HAD to have PLANNED this!" Halsey shook her head, "And this new, self proclaimed 'Freelancer,' Diana...it really can't be coincidence that they share a name, can it? I swear, if my theories prove true, then Artemis is more clever than I give her credit for, which was already a decent amount."

Halsey kicked her chair and rolled backwards on it, spinning to come to another computer. This one had the security files of the Rainbow Factory. Her top hackers had managed to recover the entirety of the Factory's security footage before the explosion had decimated every bit of information left unscanned in there, and Halsey was determined to discover the true fate of her most interesting recent Project. Every moment of footage containing Artemis in that factory had been compiled and ordered chronologically, and in collaboration with the bits of somewhat damaged footage and audio from her helmet, Halsey had put together a computerized debrief of the events through Artemis' perspective. She had reviewed all of the information up until Ghost's act of bodily sacrifice so far and it all proved to match. Now she just had to watch the rest...see how she handled the biologically enhanced armada, see how she BEAT them, and see how, EXACTLY she went supposedly K.I.A., for, as far as Halsey was concerned, this particular Spartan was too different to be killed by an explosion. She had the luck of John, and the skill to go toe-to-hoof with the late Noble Six.

If it had to be an energy Sword to the jugular of a broken Six to kill him, then surely his pony equivalent could survive that explosion.

"Let's see how you did it, Artemis..." Halsey muttered, scanning the files again...

//Beginning Simulation...

Files merging...

Patterns found...

Activating...\

Wha...? What the buck...? Wait...what am I doing back here! I thought I died!...why can't I move?...wait...why can't I even feel!? What's going o-HALSEY! I can see you...you created an AI of my personality, didn't you? Fucking...oh, oh, my bad, a TEMPORARY AI. Fine, fine, just...whatever...I'll get your fucking debrief done with so you can erase me faster...this is immoral, you know that? This doesn't make you any better than The Director. If the real Artemis were here, I know she wouldn't skip a moment before ripping you in two...

Gah...anyway, since I really have no choice in the matter...I'll start...you wanna know how I-I mean, she...the real me, did it, huh? Well alright then. You'll finally get to see your sadistic little project pushed to it's limits. It's what you've always wanted! So right after separating from Ghost and Pip...

Author's Blurb- Well well well! seems like the adventure of Artemis and her band of wackos has come to an end...all that remains is this little AI of hers, and secret parasite which seems to take a liking to Pip and Cross...not much, right? She HAS to be erased from existence now...RIGHT!?...but what of this..."Diana," character? What is she, really? More to come! Before all of that, though, let's get our last fill of action of little ole' Wolfie before Halsey erases the artificial Artemis. Bonus chapter of just that next! As well as a bit more of Luna's plan for finding Discord...I mean, haven't YOU been wondering where the crazy guy has been all this time?

.//HaCK..0UtS1D3 TRaN5M15s10N (PLEASE READ, IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S EDIT!)

Listen...I don't have much time before I'm discovered...I'm on borrowed time! I can't believe I managed to hack in here...lucky, too, I was almost too late, Halsey's transmission was beginning to go too far.

My name is...well...I'll get back to that...but that's not important right now. What IS important is that Halsey NEVER, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, EVER finds the specimen which escaped the Rainbow Factory. There is more to her motives than anypony, even Luna, knows...and...there is more to that worm, as well.

Shit! They've noticed me! Gah...that was faster than I thought...I only have a few more seconds. Alright, listen again. I am there, I AM watching, and I WILL reveal myself when the time arises. Don't worry, I am an ally.

Buck! Fine! Before I go, I'll drop a hint, you deserve as much...The difference between Greek and Roman Gods were explained in the names, but, the names also explained that they were one in the same. Just as Zeus was Jupiter, and Poseidon was Neptune, I am Diana.

Farewell.

Author's Edit- I kinda hoped I wouldn't have to say this, but...PLEASE DON'T PUT ANSWERS TO RIDDLES IN MY COMMENTS. It kinda spoils it for everypony! D: I even said this in the comments, but I guess that wasn't enough...listen, if your comment was deleted, please don't be upset about it, i just couldn't allow the answer to remain staring readers in the face the whole time...also, for future reference, there WILL be more riddles in upcoming chapters and events, so, as with those, DO NOT PUT THE ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS, or I WILL delete them, without hesitation. And I will probably yell at you, >:| now that I have an actual warning up here...

...or...I will just tell Artemis her dinner in sitting in your chair.

My Little Acrobat! ~ahhhahhhahhahhahhhhh~

...And we, Widow and I, passed-by the Armory Ghost and I had holed-up in earlier. I paused for a moment, stopping to take a look at the slightly ajar doors to the treasury of mass destruction, then dashed after Widow so I wouldn't get left behind.

"What were you looking at?" Widow asked me, looking over her shoulder as we ran.

"Nothing, just...forget it." I replied, flashing a bright grin behind my visor out of habit. In reality, I had a feeling that I'd be back in there soon, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to so I just didn't voice it...

"C'mon, one more charge to place!" Widow cheered, "Right inside this room." We came sliding to a halt before a somewhat large set of sliding doors and waited for them to open. After pressing the button multiple times to find that they just wouldn't budge, Widow kicked the base of the doors in disdain, grunting, "The heck?"

"Can't we just forget about it?" I asked, "I have a bad feeling about...something..."

"No, this room is unmarked on the map." Widow pointed out, to which I quickly checked to confirm that she was being truthful, "So I'm sure whatever's in there is important, too important for even some of the workers here to know about. We HAVE to be sure whatever's in there gets destroyed." She then proceeded to kick the door again, "How are we ganna get it!?"

I sighed, gently pushing her aside, "Here, lemme show you how it's done." I rolled my neck until hearing a somewhat painful, yet relieving crack, then slowly shifted into a battle-ready stance, unclipping Undertaker and letting her fall behind me. I took one more, easy breath before spinning and round-house kicking the large double-doors in, FAR in. So far in, in fact, that both doors proceeded to fly quite a few meters into the room.

"Well...remind me never to be on the receiving end of your hooves." Widow commended, clapping me on the back as she stepped inside, "What the hell?"

I peeked in myself and immediately noticed what she had: a single pedestal was all that was contained in there. On the pedestal was what appeared to be some kind of computer. Aside from this, though, there was absolutely nothing in there. Why was this so important?

Then that voice creeped into our ears, from our own headsets, too, "Looks like I caught a couple BUGS!"

The voice was so loud and sudden, I yelled and threw my helmet off immediately, my eyes and ears twitching, "THE BUCK, MAN!?"

Widow, who was recovering from the assault on her ears, responded to the new voice, "Who are you and how did you get this line?" she demanded coldly while I grudgingly made my way to my helmet.

"I am what you see right in front of you, my dear insects." the voice responded, "I am the AI incarnate of apparently the last Prophet of the Covenant!"

I kneeled down to pick up my helmet, a bit confused by what the voice emanating from it's speakers said, "So...that's why this place was shut down..." I muttered, picking my helmet back up, "Because you went insane." I looked my helmet over, recalling the stories Washington told me about Alpha, AI, and The Meta, "And the staff knew what would happen, so they shut you down." I motioned for Widow to begin approaching the computer in the center of the room, slowly, "But our forces prevented them from leaving before shutting this place down for good, so they were completely obliterated by the bio soldiers." Widow and I slowly and cautiously approached the supposed center of control for this AI Prophet, hoping he wouldn't notice while I distracted him, "I was wondering why we never found any bodies."

"Hmm...you have very good deduction skill..." the AI complimented, "What little good that does, though, for you are, from here on out, MY new test subjects! With control over the entire factory, I have nothing to do, you see, but experiment and test for new and better technology!"

I nodded to Widow, silently unclipping a grenade and waiting a moment before chucking it at the computer, "Right, whatever, goodnight!" I shouted before we dove and covered our heads.

"What? What're you do-!?"

His voice was cut-off by the explosion, so I figured we destroyed him, but as I was lifting my head, grinning triumphantly at Widow, something suddenly wrapped around my torso and lifted me off the ground.

"Whoa! The buck is this!?" I dropped my helmet as my body left the ground and the room spun in a blur. Upon stopping, I saw that some kind of robotic tentacle had slithered out of a hole in the wall to grab Widow and lift her like another had apparently done to me.

"Simple minded Vermin!" the AI mocked, it's voice now emanating from everywhere, "I saw your ploy. I saw EVERYTHING!" he took a moment to chuckle, "From the moment you fools switched me back on...I kept an eye on you all. This was why you were constantly petered by my bio warriors!"

The realization hit me like a brick...why didn't I realize this sooner!?

"Grrr...GET OFFA ME!" Widow shouted, straining to break free.

I looked to the computer to find it unscathed, and with a scorch mark plastered in front of it on some kind of clear, yet obviously very dense and tough material. It wasn't even cracked!

"Tch, cheater..." I muttered, ignoring the slight warm feeling I was starting to feel as the mechanical tentacle tightened around me...what? I like what I like!

"I was simply using my resources, Vermin." the AI countered.

"Heh, that's what I say whenever I cheat." I laughed, then grunted as the constricting continued, "Ermf...trying to break me in-erg, half...?"

"I'm thinking about it. I do want to TOY with you a bit more...I have never encountered...creatures such as you." I felt my body go into motion again as the tentacle lifted me higher to an apparent camera attached to the ceiling while Widow shouted at the AI to leave me alone, obviously to no avail, "You are...very different indeed. Your body appears to be very soft and tender..." as if to prove his point, the tentacle tightened and began to bend my back a bit farther than what was comfortable, eliciting a sharp scream from my throat and an obscene shout of anger from Widow, "Yet obviously built with power. It will be fun to experiment in you! Yes, that is vey apparent."

As my body straightened out again I huffed, groaning as the pain subsided, "How long do you intend to fondle my body?" I asked somewhat monotone, "Cuz soon enough, and I might report you for sexual harassment."

"What the hell, Artemis!?" Widow shouted, only to be drowned-out by somewhat sadistic laughter from the AI.

"You are indeed a very...eccentric specimen. I will ENJOY toying with you."

Only because I figured I was going to die anyway, I decided to continue to play my sex-joke card and responded with, "Oh baby, sounds hot."

"Seriously, Artemis, WHAT THE HELL!?"

Suddenly, the tentacle around me shook before going limp and letting me fall about thirty feet to the ground. I hit, grunting and dropping into a roll so as to take most of the pressure off my legs...still hurt quite a bit, though.

"What!? What did you do!?" the AI shouted, apparently not intending that to happen.

"What COULD I do!?" I shouted back, looking around with narrowed eyes at the multiple tentacles which were now appearing from the walls and ceiling, "I was completely restricted." I paused to look at the now limp tentacle which had restrained me and saw something small and worm-like wiggle it's way out of a slit in the mechanical appendage, "Ah! Sluggy! Was wondering where you slithered off to!"

"What!? One of MY OWN creations!? What is this...this DISSENTION!?"

I cringed at the volume resonating around the room from the obviously upset AI, then caught Sluggy in a hoof as he fell off the tentacle, "You're just a mean jerk and Sluggy likes me better!" I teased, sticking a tongue at the camera I was held up to earlier.

"Hey Artemis...if, you know, you're not busy...COULD YOU GET ME, PLEASE!?" I looked back at Widow, who was still stuck in her binds, and saw that MORE of the tentacles had started to wrap around her, slowly smothering her entire body.

"Hehe...sorry!-WHOA!" I quickly had to duck as one of the tentacles rudely tried to make a swipe at me, "Hey, ya prick! I was having a conversa-BUCK!" another tentacle made a swipe at me, AGAIN, rudely cutting me off and forcing me to jump to the side so I wouldn't be crushed, "JERK!"

That word was practically shoved back down my throat, though, because I received a pretty heavy smack to the gut from yet another tentacle and was propelled quite a ways back. By the time I was able to plant my hooves on the ground again, I was back out in the hallway. Luckily for me, though, I ended up near my beloved Undertaker. Grinning from ear to ear, I started to sprint for my hefty and oh so lovely rifle. Without wanting to pause to pick it up, I simply dove for it, landing almost on top of it, grabbed it in my fore hooves, then rolled back to my rear hooves, checking to make sure she was fully loaded.

"Full five bullets. Nice." I carefully planned my attack in the few moments I had before re-entering the room...and by carefully, I mean not at all...and by PLAN, I mean I was just going to wing it. I was never one for prior planning, and it always seemed to work just fine before!...usually, "Oi!" I shouted, grabbing the AI's attention again.

"You are resilient!" his voice shouted, "But I'm sure you have a CRUSHING point!"

I sprinted fully into the room, catching sight of about seven different tentacles flying at me from every which way. I'm sure there was more, but I just focused on the one's I saw in front of me, and the ones holding Widow. The first tentacle to make a swipe attempted a similar strike to the one that hurled me out of the room, but I was prepared and quickly slammed a hoof down, throwing all of my momentum into an aerial tuck-and-roll of sorts. The wind tear left behind the swift strike was very apparent, almost knocking me off my landing. Almost.

"DIE, VERMIN!"

Immediately upon landing, I was back to sprinting for Widow, more tentacles swarming around me. I again saw another swipe heading for me, but this one was aimed a bit higher, so instead of vaulting over it, I threw all of my speed into a slide, dropping onto my flank with Undertaker held above my head. The tentacle swished by, blowing my mane around wildly as I continued to slide. Oh it was so exhilarating! And the adrenaline was really kicking in then...my heart was thumping so hard, my chest felt like it would burst! And my mind, eyes, ears, and even SMELL, were all just skyrocketing into a united overdrive of the most lovely and epic proportions...being a lover of the art of battle, myself, this was one of the moments that I practically lived, and died, for!

Everything went slowly from there. The tentacles seemed to glide only half as fast as before, my speedy power slide was now more like a turtle crawl, and the sparks which had been shooting out behind me as my armor dragged across the metal floor looked like...Uh...hmm...looked like...you know what, it just looked really damn awesome in slow motion. Beautiful descriptions is NOT my thing, you know.

With everything in this hyper state, I now had the chance to formulate an ACTUAL way to get out of this mess. I always think better under pressure, I believe. There was a total of three tentacles ensnaring my leader, and a WHOLE LOT more attempting to turn me into a messy stain on the floor. I guess he just was too mad to consider keeping me as a lab rat anymore. My slide continued, and the tentacles started closing in. I knew that, soon enough, I would be overwhelmed and beaten to a pulp. That is to say, unless I didn't provide some retaliation!

My eyes dared around, taking note of every last possible threat to me in the room within a fraction of the time it takes somepony to blink, then my mind quickly created a multitude of action plans, quickly ruling-out each one that ended with my death until either one succeeded, or I just plain ran out of options. Luckily, one plan of action seemed like it would work.

"Eat shit!"

Everything suddenly zipped back to it's normal speed, a grin already plastered on my face, as I fired one, semi-braced shot at one of the three tentacles which trapped Widow. It hit, but practically stopped my slide entirely, leaving me open for attack. Of course, I already knew this and had already predicted which way to go in order to avoid the metal and wire appendage which was bearing down upon me. With what little momentum I had left, I shoved myself up and planted my right rear hoof on the ground, spinning a full one hundred and eighty degrees while letting Undertaker slide in my grasp until I held her firmly around the tip of the barrel with both fore hooves. I had predicted an attack from behind...and as I swung my rifle like a baseball bat I was proven correct when the tentacle was bashed aside. Not wanting to waste any momentum, I twisted a bit more threw myself to the side and bashed another tentacle out of the way.

'So far so good...'

Before that last tentacle could retreat back up, I grasped it in one hoof and allowed it to carry me up quite a bit before letting go and drifting upwards a few more feet. Once up, I shifted my hold on Undertaker again so I was primed to fire at another of the tentacles binding Widow. As soon as I had the shot, I fired, the recoil knocking me slightly higher and slightly farther back. Of course, I had planned for that, grinning as another tentacle swished by, moving the air in the spot I was moments ago. This, coupled with the sight of the second of tentacle holding Widow falling to the ground, brought a wider grin to my face.

"You slithering, little, rodent!" It was obvious my evasiveness was enraging this AI...this only made me smile even wider.

Without wasting time to mock the angry construct, I flipped and twisted so that I could see the remaining tentacles swarming upwards to attack me, as I had correctly predicted. Gripping Undertaker tightly, I started to fall towards them, waiting for the right time to move so as to not alert them which way I would go.

"Wrong move, Vermin!"

The tentacles stared zipping upwards at me, trying to just go and impale my guts. I waited until the first one was right upon me before shifting to the right, arching my back as it missed by less than an inch. With a solid object beside me, the rest of the dodging would be easy as cupcakes!

"No, that's EXACTLY what I wanted to do!" I retorted, twisting again and grabbing onto the vertical spire which had just missed so I could pull myself out of the way of another attack.

This movement sent me spiraling down, swirling around the tentacle which I held onto until I started to reach the section of the tentacle which had curved upwards. There, I let go of it with my fore hoof and began to slide down the rest of it's length on my rear hooves. More attacks were already making their way towards me, but each time a new appendage made to impale or swipe at me, I simple kicked off and landed on a different tentacle to continue my evasive movement. Of course, my predictions were becoming less exact as I went along and I had to improvise when one of the tentacles I had been grinding across suddenly ended and I soared off of it's tip into open air again.

"Now I have you!"

As I was unable to avoid it this time, I quickly brought Undertaker up into a firing position and aimed at the deadly mass of metal which was spearing straight towards me. I figured I had one bullet to spare anyway, so I pulled the trigger and watched as the tentacle exploded, beginning at the tip and quickly making it's way down like a shockwave as my bullet tore it to pieces.

"Wrong again!" I mocked, beginning to fall back to the ground from a pretty reasonable height.

With my predictions now fully useless, I decided I had to end everything there and aimed my last bullet at the remaining tentacle which held Widow. I didn't have long, for more were already close to snatching me, but I luckily managed to hit it and was able to see Widow fall to the ground, land on her feet, and start running for the door. With that done, though, I now had to figure-out how I was going to escape myself...

"It was fun, Vermin, but now...DIE!"

--Meanwhile...in the real World...--

Luna flew high into the sky, a couple miles, in fact, before pausing to look back at the ground. She realized she had just left Aerowin probably a but too hastily, but was a bit too far up to turn around.

"Sorry..." she muttered sheepishly, even though nopony was around to hear her, "Now...Discord..."

The Goddess turned once more towards the sky, the Earthly sun already on it's way below the horizon while it's silver companion was on it's way up. As she took note of the moon, she felt a pang of melancholy sadness. While the raising and lowering of the moon was always considered a chore to her, she still loved it. I mean, it WAS her home for a couple thousand years after all. Yes, it was still there, floating around the ruined Equis sadly, but her duties now required her attention on Earth, and the trek there would take up far too much of her time.

"Discord, Discord, Discord..." Luna muttered to herself the Spirit's name, "He really could be anywhere in the entire universe by now...but he still loved the ponies, if only as subjects of his mental games." Luna, once she had exited Earth's atmosphere, felt the cool sensation of nothing against her coat, though took no real note of it. She had felt this feeling of "nothing" for so long, it didn't really affect her any more. One of the upsides to being a Goddess in an intergalactic war was the ability to ignore the lack of Oxygen in space, "So I am sure he is either on Earth, or with somepony, somewhere."

The midnight blue Alicorn finally came to a stop, turning to look back at the spherical rock which still tried to pull her to it, even at that distance, "Let's see if we cannot find you on the entirety of Earth first, hmm?"

Luna continued to push herself away from Earth with an equal amount of force which was trying to pull her to it. She needed to remain in about the same spot as her magic began to flare up in her horn, prepared to begin it's search of any kind of magical signature which was similar, in any way, to that of Discord's. As it would take quite a while, and a decently large amount of magical energy, to scan the entire planet, Luna required a lot of preparation time, both physically and mentally.

"I'm sorry, everypony, but I will not be appearing at the New Year's Party..." Luna whispered, closing her eyes and taking a deep, oxygenless breath, "I never understood how that worked..." she wondered momentarily before returning her focus on the meditative preparations.

"So what is it you had in mind, Pip?"

Pip had led Cross, along with little Sluggy, to the very room which he had been watching for the past few days. He had a hunch that his little worm knew something, about somepony, which it was just dying to tell. Seeing as the worm didn't have a way of communicating it's voice, though, Pip had to find somepony else that was good at communicating with the uncommicatable, and since her arrival, Diana had successfully communicated with two Jackals, one Drone (of all things), and a Skirmisher...the Skirmisher, though, really did not seem too happy to be there, even though it had chosen to defect to the UNSC of it's own accord.

"Pip...? Hello?"

Pip shook his head, jumping out of a strange dreamy state. He thought he heard Luna apologize for something, and became distracted by an odd feeling of being looked at and examined, inside and out.

"Er...sorry." he apologized, grinning sheepishly, "Uhm...Luna won't be a' the par'y tonight." he stated somewhat out of the blue before stepping up to the door and knocking with the same hoof Sluggy was wrapped around.

Cross merely shrugged after a couple moments of unsuccessful contemplation, then waited beside her admittedly odd coltfriend while sounds of shuffling, some bangs, and two obscene shouts of anger and pain emanated out to their ears.

"Uhhh...who are we visiting, again?" Cross asked, even though Pip never told her to begin with.

Finally, as the sounds of loud movement ended just on the other side of the door, Pip answered, "Diana."

Cross gulped, stepping slightly behind Pip for fear of this eccentric pony. Artemis was a bit creepy, yes, but this Diana was just plain antisocial. At least Artemis was fun to hang around...or so she heard. She never actually met the mare. The two waited patiently as a couple unbolting and unlocking sounds clicked and clanged, until, at last, the door started to slowly swing open, the sound of VERY LOUD music slamming into their eardrums. It was a wonder that they didn't hear it before the opening of the door! Slowly, something black and cloth-like started to poke it's way out from behind the door, seemingly in beat with the building music which Pip had recognized as a popular song by some human group by the name of Innerpartysystem. The song was called "American Trash," if he remembered correctly, and he had to admit, though, that it fit this odd mare nicely. Soon, her entire head, more or less, was visible, and it was from the look in her oddly orange eyes that she was very upset at being bothered.

"Well, if it isn't my little Stakler!" she exclaimed, not even attempting in hiding her annoyance in any way, "What brings you and your fuck-buddy to my doorstep, hmm?"

Cross's eyes twitched as her face burned bright red, attempting to hide even further behind Pip so as to hide her anger...you could practically see the steam billowing from her ears!

Pip eyed his secret assignment for the first time at a close range as she stepped fully out of her room, of course, on just her rear legs in a similar fashion that Artemis would. Unfortunately, almost her entire body was covered by black cloth. Her face was entirely wrapped-up, even her muzzle, save for her eyes and ears. Her mane was even concealed by a black cowl which seemed to be part of the same material which wrapped around her, though a black or red strand or two would sometimes poke it's way out. Not only her face was covered, either, for the cloth wound it's way down her body, crossing each other and making an X at her chest, then coming back together at her waist and thighs to cover everything about her cutie mark and groin. Either she was very conscious of her body, or she was hell bent on concealing something.

"I need ya t' ave a quick chat with me bu'y here." Pip explained casually, "An' don' tell Halsey 'bout this."

Pip lifted his hoof to Diana and waited for Sluggy to make his move. Diana watched, with seemingly total disinterest, as the little worm wiggled to life, slithering up Pip's leg until it was right at he tip of his hoof.

"Well...looks like somepony is breaking regulation." Diana scoffed, though the fabric around her muzzle shifted position slightly, betraying her cold stare as Pip realized that she had smiled.

"So can ya do 't?" Pip asked hopefully.

Diana seemed to stare at the slug in thought...and it seemed to stare back. This went on for about five minutes until finally Diana stepped back and opened her door for her guests to enter.

"C'min. Don't want listening eyes and watching ears to get this."

Cross looked to Pip with a face that asked a mix of, "Do we really have to...?" and "What the buck...?"

But Pip merely nodded sternly and led her inside while Sluggy slipped firmly back around his owner's hoof. Once inside, Pip clearly recognized the music as what he had previously guessed it to be. He also realized that Diana was a pretty bad slob when it came to keeping her sleeping quarters clean. Papers, books, magazines, cloth, and pieces of armor were strewn about in a manner and abundance that rivaled the room of Pip's DJ pony friend, Vinyl, who was known for her messy lifestyle as much as her music.

Pip almost laughed at the fittingness of the song currently playing, 'American Trash, indeed.' he thought smugly, noticing the formidable stereo system which took up all the space of the far wall. He dreaded hearing the speakers at full volume and dearly hoped he never would have to.

"Tell me, fillies, what do you know of the mischief spirit, Discord?" Diana asked, flopping down on her bed, which had a multitude of stains and tears on it's splayed and disheveled covers and pillows.

Pip and Cross looked to each other in confusion, hoping to find the other wasn't caught off guard by the sudden question. They were both severely disappointed.

"Uhm, excuse me, Miss Diana..." Cross spoke-up first, clearing her throat to get the mare's attention, "Why the hay do you need to know?"

Diana rolled onto her side, propping her head up with a hoof and flicking her unkempt ebony tail as she delivered a formidable and mocking stare, "You'll see. Just answer my question, please."

Cross furrowed her brow and frowned in annoyance, but complied none the less, "Okay...he was the Spirit of Disharmony and Chaos, right?" she started, "He was also probably destroyed in the glassing of Equis, since he was stuck as a stone statue after being beaten by the Elements of Harmony...right?"

Diana's eyes seemed to glow in mischief before she suddenly sat upright, staring straight at Sluggy on Pip's wrist, "Now see...everypony thought you were dead! Now you can stop whispering in my head, and let's talk...face to face, hmm?"

Pip and Cross were about to ask the seemingly deranged mare what the hay she was going on about, when a blindingly white flash blinded them, centered at Pip's wrist.

Prelude to the End

I quickly found myself completely and indefinitely restrained by the time I was able to lift Undertaker. I mean, as amazing as I am...Er...was, I still couldn't fight off an armada of robotic tentacles while in mid air with nothing but a single bullet. Now of I had two bullets...

"I will hand it to you, Vermin, you are one very amusing specimen." the AI complimented, raising me once again to the camera lens, "Perhaps I will reconsider exterminating you. I believe you will be a very amusing subject to experiment with, on, and in."

Now lemme explain the kind of position I was being held in, before I go on: Each leg was being held, spread eagle, apart by a different tentacle while another wrapped around me waist. One more made sure to keep Undertaker far out of my reach while yet another would poke or prod me in different spots just to see how I'd react.

I have to admit, I couldn't help but think one thing the entire time, 'I've seen enough hentai to see where this is going...'

"What exactly do you mean by 'experiments,' sir?" I asked, purposely sounding extremely disinterested.

"Well, I could test your durability and resilience..." he suggested with a dark undertone. Of course, to prove his point, I was slapped across the face by a tentacle, then slammed in the gut immediately after, "How does that sound?"

I groaned, lifting my head with a bright, and now bloody, grin, "Sounds like a box of fun."

"There's also your flexibility." he pointed out while one tentacle started to push me forwards from directly behind my shoulders as two others forced my fore hooves back to nearly the point of snapping, "Is this a good choice?"

I grunted and gritted my teeth, forcing my cries of pain and anguish back as best I could. I just did not want to give this sadistic freak the satisfaction of watching me break, even if it meant dieing first. Unfortunately, I could only hold out for so long...

"Eeerggg, buck-buck-buck-buck-buuuuck! GAH, BUCK!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked smugly.

"I ssssaid, SSS-SOUNDS LI-K-KE A BUCKING GOOD TIME!" I screamed, my shoulders feeling as though they were about to crush in upon themselves.

With a clearly unsatisfied sigh, he released the pressure and let me slump back into my original position, "Hmm...it's very clear you are resilient and very dexterous mentally, the same being said physically, but..." I let out a couple deep breaths before looking up at the lens through which he scrutinized me. I was going to make sure he got destroyed if it was the last thing I did...heh, "How are you on the inside, hmm? Under all of that armor and flesh."

I gave him a very confused stare, not entirely sure what he was getting at, "I have an abnormally high metabolism?"

A single, somewhat smaller mass of wire and metal swiveled it's way to my face, swaying in front of me for a couple of moments while I stared at it expectantly, "Why don't I just FIND OUT, HMM!?"

My eyes shot wide as saucers as I finally understood what he was about to do, "OH BUCK NO, YOU REALLY ARE ABOUT TO RA-GMNN!" I slammed my mouth shut, clenching my teeth tightly as the little wire appendage zipped toward my maw, slamming into my face at a pretty painful speed.

"Oh now, you seemed to WANT this not too long ago!" the AI mocked, "Why don't you open that mouth of yours to spout more shrewd insults, hmm?" I glared ahead while still keeping sure to refute any entrance to the tentacle, "Nothing? Fine. I can fix this. I know one way to get that mouth of yours open, but knowing your refusal to comply, this will be VERY, VERY painful!"

Again, something slammed into my gut with tremendous force, attempting to elicit a shout or scream so he could "explore" my insides. I was just glad I had armor on or I'd be screwed...literally.

"Come on. I'll be gentle!" He laughed, enjoying the torture he was inflicting upon my body.

Another blow to the stomach, forcing a spurt of blood to slip through the slits between my teeth. I was going to be sore later, that was for sure...

"Your resilience truly is something to admire!" the AI noted, "But I WILL break you!"

I clenched my teeth tighter, screwing my eyes shut as yet another blow to my gut forced a grunt, accompanied by more blood, from my muzzle. There was just almost nothing left in me to keep resisting; I was almost spent.

"One more should do it." the AI commented smugly, "Get ready, Vermin."

I took a deep breath and awaited the pain, and soon to be violation. I had but one regret at that point:

'And I tried so hard to save-out for Luna...'

"For an all-seeing AI, you sure have a bad case of tunnel-vision!"

I opened my eyes at the sound of Widow's defiant voice, then looked below me to find she had found something similar to a Gravity Hammer, except BIGGER, and had it primed to crush whatever protected the AI's control center.

"Widow!" I shouted with probably the most joyful voice I had used since receiving Luna's little gift.

Widow raised the hammer and started to bring it down, but the AI was already in motion, obviously panicking as he used every last tentacle to zip to her position, attempting to stop her. He even let go of me entirely!

"No! Do NOT touch that, filthy Vermin!" he shouted frantically, his tentacles closing in on Widow as I began to fall.

Unfortunately for him, he reacted far too late and Widow had already dropped the hammer, shattering the clear case with a loud, thunderous clap which released a very obvious and visible shockwave centered at the impact, knocking her off her feet and sending her sliding backwards a couple meters.

"NOOOOOOO!!!"

The tentacles forgot about both Widow and I, deciding to instead conceal and shield his "brain" from further threats. Meanwhile, Widow scrambled back to her feet in time to catch me, preventing me from attaining what would probably be the worst concussion I would ever have.

"Charge placed, let's go get Pip and Ryan." Widow muttered while the AI frantically screamed a bunch of insults and nonsense, "They sent a distress beacon some minutes ago."

Widow quickly dashed out of the room, disregarding my helmet, but grabbing the dropped Undertaker, as she threw me over her shoulder so I could hold on around her neck with my fore hooves. I hated being carried, though...it makes me feel like I'm just being a problem...I mean, I live by the philosophy that "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem," so...well, at least I used to, anyway.

"Put...me...down...please..." I demanded after being carried far away from the AI's room.

Widow slowed to a halt, but obviously didn't think setting my on my own hooves was the right choice as she hesitated to comply. But...she eventually set me down, leaning me against the wall and setting Undertaker directly beside me.

"You took a hell of a beating, Artemis." she stated, "You don't need to carry your entire burden you know. That's why we're a team."

My lungs felt like they were going to explode as I took deep, shaky breath after deep, shaky breath. I think one of my ribs might have broken and punctured something...

"No...I-I will be fine." I lied, "Honestly, nothing wrong here!" I stood upright and held my fore hooves out with a bright, yet still blood-stained grin, flinching slightly in pain but hiding it quickly.

Widow shook her head, obviously debating over whether or not to force me to comply, or to just let me be my stubborn self.

"You don't need to be strong for us, Artemis." Widow stated quietly, reaching into a pouch strapped to her thigh, "You need to be strong WITH us." Before I could question what she was talking about, something sharp and needle-like pierced my suit through the flexible section around my thigh, then continued through to puncture my skin.

"Heeeng! The buck!?" I shouted, looking down to see Widow removing an empty adrenaline shot from my thigh.

"But seeing as you're too stubborn...just, please, don't do anything stupid." she tossed the empty vial away and patted her pack, "Be sure not to get as beat-up again. You can really only use these once or twice within a short time span or else your heart will explode."

I shivered as the adrenaline shot quickly acted upon my body, enticing it to produce more adrenaline so as to kickstart my heart and numb the pain. I remember the first time I used one of these...I thought it was the most wonderful invention in the world and had to be pinned down by the rest of my Team so I wouldn't preemptively use another.

After taking in one last, deep, and still somewhat shaky breath, I grabbed Undertaker, slung her around my body, and flashed the best, most sadistic grin I could, "Let's blow this place to hell."

Widow nodded to me and immediately began to lead the way back to Pip and Ghost. We severely hoped that they had been able to stay alive this whole time, as the distress beacon was sent quite some time ago. On the way, I could still feel a slight twinge of pain in my side, as though something was clamped onto it and, with every step I took, started twisting and pulling at it...it was only minor at first, but I could tell the pain was building as the adrenaline started wearing off. I'd either have to bring adrenaline pumping naturally again, or take another shot, and soon. I did not want to be carried again.

Again, we passed the armory and I stopped to stare. Widow stopped as well after noticing I was no longer running.

"C'mon! We can't wait!" she shouted, "We gatta move!"

I looked at the doors in thought, then turned and gave Widow a dark grin, "Go on ahead. Find them and make sure they're okay." I pushed the doors open and began to walk in, feeling complete delight at finally being able to use one of these weapons...or maybe more, "I'm grabbing somethings that'll aid in our escape."

I didn't bother to wait for Widow's response, but seeing as she didn't come get me, I figured she just went along with it. Inside that room, I again marveled at all of the tools of mass destruction and war...I hated and loathed every bit of technology I saw. All I wanted at the outset of the attack on Equis was for everything to just go away, for all of the invaders to just die, or leave. When that didn't happen, when they destroyed what few things which kept me from just losing it, I came to the conclusion that I would do everything in my power to make sure every last one of them died...if only to end the death.

I hate death, really, I loathe it beyond belief, but I've learned to love it, to embrace every aspect of it. It is an art, basically, and perfecting that art would help me accomplish my goal of killing every Covenant bastard I saw. I also came to realize that I couldn't wait until death came to me...but what am I doing? You're not interested in my own personal thoughts, Halsey, you're interested in hearing how your crazy little project did it. How Artemis was able to escape, almost, certain death at the hands of that damn AI, of which, thanks to you, is now an equal to me. So shall I continue? Shall I finish this story for you, Ma'm? Fine. Like I said, I just want to be deleted as soon as possible...

Since I didn't want to waste too much time, I quickly grabbed the first few things I saw. One looked very similar to the standard Plasma Rifle which many Covenant used, except this was bigger, much bigger. In fact, after quick inspection, I saw that the mechanism next to it was supposed to be attached to allow two-hoofed carrying. I figured it was supposed to be a somewhat heavy piece of weaponry, but was able to hold it with one hoof anyway. The other major difference was the constant sound of pent-up energy which emanated from it. I wasn't entirely sure if it would actually work, or just explode the moment I tried to use it, but I really wanted to see what the formidable-looking device could do!

The next item to catch my interest was a doozy. Seeing it really tickled my insides to no end, honestly. What it was, essentially, was a suit, yet at the same time, a gun. It looked like it was supposed to be worn, like a blue, exoskeletal armor, as a chain of ammo which looked similar to the Spiker needles, except longer and thinner, threaded through and around it to the parts which connected to the arms, which appeared to be where the firing mechanism was. Now, although it was too big for my body to just wear it, I was sure I could think of a way to use it when the time arose, so I grabbed it and started to bundle the small mass of metal and bullets together when I accidentally hit a button and the whole thing shrank in on itself and became a nice little package, the long strips of ammo wrapped nicely around it.

"Sweet." I grabbed the suit and connected it to the magnet lock on my back while taking my DMR, which had previously been there, and wrapping it around the opposite shoulder Undertaker was on with another clip-cord. It was a bit of a clunky set-up, but I'd be fine.

Before I left, though, I spotted an Energy Sword handle laying amidst a pile of junk, so I grabbed it and clipped it beside the magnum on my left thigh. With all this stuff, I would be a bit weighed down, but I figured that, with the current circumstances, the more weapons, the merrier!

I hefted the somewhat large, oversized Plasma Rifle and grinned, making my way out to the hallway. I was so excited at my finds that I forgot about the pain in my side. Whatever was going to happen in the coming minutes, however this whole fiasco would surmise, I knew that at least it would be a spectacular performance. Though, ending in the most beautiful piece of art I ever saw was not how I intended to end it all going in...

Halsey, if you couldn't tell, I'm promoting my own death as the most beautiful thing I had ever seen...well, second most beautiful...could...could you bring Luna in here for a bit? That'd be n-o-oh! Fine...I'll continue...Geeze...still heartless as ever, I see.

After only a few short minutes of running I could hear the sound of gunfire. Either Widow had found the others and was defending them, or she was being attacked...wait, she was being attacked anyway...er, so, anyway. I spurred myself to run faster, even though the pain was ebbing back and becoming quite distracting again. That AI really did a number on me...I was just glad he didn't get a chance to go through with his plan to up and violate me like I was in some dirty comic...I would visit the Internet if I wanted to see that!

"Damn, where the buck are you, Artemis!?"

Widow's voice reached my ears as I turned a corner and found a long hallway, the end of which being a doorway back into the Construction room. Continuing to run, I unclipped my DMR and shouldered with my right fore hoof while carrying the Plasma Reactor (the name I gave to the large Plasma Rifle) under my left armpit, aiming down the ranged sight of my rifle to see Widow has firing off at enemies which I could not yet see while bullets of varying kinds whizzed by. Pip and Ghost were both slumped over behind some kind of wreckage of junk or something, unconscious...at least, I hoped they were unconscious.

I lowered the rifle so I could run faster, wincing as a sudden pain lanced through my body, centered at the right side of my chest. I ignored the pain, though, I had to. I couldn't afford to be held back in this situation if everypony was to get out alive. This thought in mind, I sprinted through the doorway, hefting both my DMR and my pistol while sliding the Plasma Reactor near Widow so I had a better range of free movement.

"Right here, boss!" I shouted, vaulting over the wreckage of what I then identified as some kind of robot warrior.

"Artemis! Took ya long enough!" Widow shouted, continuing to fire off rounds with the Assault Rifle she lifted off of Ghost.

Immediately after vaulting the robot, I came face-to-optical sensor with another mech fighter. These things were pretty big compared to me. They seemed to have a similar skeletal build as Brutes, except without the layers of muscle and fur. I guessed there was supposed to be more than the skeleton, but they were obviously unfinished. I quickly opened fire with both my firearms, the bullets clanging on impact as sparks flew where they created dents and holes in the metal while knocking the machine stumbling. Before it had the chance to recover, I planted both rear hooves onto it's chest, crumpling the metal and forcing more sparks, this time of the electrical kind, to fly as I forced it onto it's back, where I fired a couple more bullets into it's head just to make sure.

"Ghost and Pip are really hurt!" Widow called, tossing a grenade towards a crowd of V2s, even though they scattered before it could explode.

I had run out of bullets in the rounds for both my DMR and pistol at this point and was forced to beat back a pair of V2s which had gotten bold. I slammed my rifle across the first drone's creepy little head with a swipe of the hoof, killing it there, while tossing my pistol, then caught the other with my now free hoof. I pushed it back while clamping my jaws down on the pistol before it fell too far. The V2 which I pushed was about to dive at me again, but I pulled the trigger of my pistol with my tongue, the click scaring the V2 as it thought it was about to be shot. With a grin, I used it's hesitation to round-house kick the bugger into a crowd of it's own kind.

I swiftly dove back behind the same mech Widow had been using to defend herself before I could get caught in the V2's blast, or riddled with bullets, to find her looking Pip over for any new injuries. I came over, being sure to stay low and began speaking to him, to make sure he was awake. After he didn't respond I removed his helmet and tried shouting at him, finding that he was too groggy to answer.

With a sigh, I pulled my knife out, feeling my mind beginning to slip at the sight of somepony I cared about in such a state. The bastard Covenant were all going to die, I was sure of that, and I wanted to do it personally as I stared into their eyes...

"Go tell your 'favorite princess' that I thought she was hot for me, hmm?" I semi-joked, my body twitching as I almost jumped back over the mech to begin tearing everything over there to pieces. Luckily, Widow had tossed a flash bang and it snapped me back into my right mind, but Pip was out again.

"We gatta getthe fuck out of here, NOW." she said, grabbing Ghost's arm...his ONLY arm, "We'll just blow it up with all of these bastards still inside." I helped to lift Pip onto her shoulder, then nodded before flinching as a Spike imbedded itself in the mech directly above my head.

"Let's go. Cover my back."

I finished reloading both firearms and nodded at her, indicating I was ready. I dashed out of cover, firing both weapons randomly into the crowds of mechs and V2s to get their attention first. Just as I planned, they focused all of their fire on me and Widow slipped out the same way I came in while I took cover behind a Revenant. I would catch-up to them soon, I thought, right after I found a hole to push through, but that's when the Revenant suddenly turned itself on and turned on me.

"Oh buck."

I dove to the side and avoided the purple mortar blast barely, the heat from the plasma explosion warming my entire body as I rolled back to my hooves in time to see the beautiful pink and purple flare dissipate, leaving nothing but a scorch mark behind.

"Now that is just not fair..."

The living vehicle boosted towards me, and since I didn't have time to dive away, I jumped and kicked off the hood, the force propelling me up and back. I eventually was able to get my bearings again just in time to land, quite painfully, on my hooves next to the mech we hid behind only a couple moments ago.

"Oh...well that makes up for it!" after shaking my legs, I clipped all of my weapons back into their spots, grabbed the Plasma Reactor, and ran like hell out of that room, V2s instantly swarming after me while the sluggish mechs and large vehicles waited behind.

As I pushed to catch up, all I heard was the sound of my own, heavy breathing, and the scrambling of all of those damn buggers...then something else. Something small and quiet. It was like something was in my head, whispering to me. At first, I was unable to discern what it was saying, but eventually it clarified.

'The interference will deny you your hopes...'

I started to ponder if that voice was real, or if I was just going crazier, but suddenly found myself about to plow into Widow.

"Wha-Widow! We almost out of here?" I asked, hoping we were.

"Literally, yes." she said darkly, "In actuality...no."

I ran along side her, suddenly feeling some of that stress I've been putting on my body, with a worried look. I didn't like the sound of this...

"The remote detonation doesn't work."

The rest of that stress quickly hit me, full force. I almost fell to my face then and there! But I kept running...I had to, even though, for the first time since Equis, I felt hopeless...then Widow's next words completely ruined everything that was left for me to hold onto.

"A countdown started from when the last charge was primed in case of this jamming counter-measure."

And of course, just to add more dissapointment, we reached the same doors we used to enter.

"The bombs will explode in thirty more minutes, but by then, all of these things will have escaped after the AI investigates the charges...and this whole mission, and the entire population of soldiers out there, will be in ruin."

I solemnly, yet still hastily, opened the doors and let beautiful sunlight flood in...I never thought I would love Celestia as much as Luna before, but DEAR CELESTIA did I enjoy that sun!...though, it was quite bittersweet...actually, it was just bitter now that I think about it.

Widow rushed out and I quickly followed. Shutting the doors just in time to keep the V2s from escaping. Immediately after, I threw all my equipment and weapons to the ground and screamed "buck" as loud as I could, repeatedly, for a whole three minutes.

"Artemis...we just have to warn everyone, get them mobilized to reduce the casualty number." Widow explained, approaching me from behind after setting Pip and Ghost down while I slammed my hooves against the metal.

"No! They won't get out fast enough!" I shouted, "I cannot just let everyone and everypony die!"

"We don't have a choice, Artemis!"

I turned, ready to scream again, but Widow anticipated this and threw her helmet off, grabbing both my fore hooves and pinning me, against my back, to the doors.

"Artemis, listen! Just fucking listen!" she shouted, silencing me, "Not every mission can be a success, not every life can be SAVED!"

At that moment, I swore my vision flashed and I saw Luna giving me the same speech...but it quickly went back to reality.

"I know what you're planning...I know what you want to do right now, but as your Leader, your teammate, and-and your friend..." she took a shaky breath, looking away for a moment, "JUST GIVE UP, DAMNIT!"

I looked down, my angry sneer shifting into a sad, distant gaze as Widow let me go and backed away, breathing heavily and retaining her serious stare. I hated this...I hated the choice I had to make, the people and ponies I had to let down...I joined the Spartan program long ago thinking I would just kill all of them, make them all suffer, but it all changed after my first mission because of that nurse...that meek little pegasus showed me why everyone else fought, and that's what I came to fight for. Not to kill, to defend, to avenge everypony that the Covenant threatened or hurt. Again, my drive changed when Luna showed me that I wasn't alone...I didn't just have to fight to defend, I had to fight to live, so I could come back home again...

I just wished that I could have made it home...but like I said, I didn't like the choice I was forced to make, so it doesn't matter anymore.

"Widow..." I kept my eyes downcast, but I knew she was looking, "You know I can't do that." I put on a wide, dark grin and slowly looked back up, staring her dead in the eye with a look I picked up from the same pegasus that changed my whole drive to begin with, "You know it's just not my style."

With Widow frozen in shock and awe, I slowly reattached everything I threw off, taking my time, for I knew that it would be the last time I did it.

"So promise me one thing, hmm?" I asked, finishing reclipping the last of my equipment and beginning to loop Undertaker and my DMR back on. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dumbfounded Widow nod, mouth agape, "Live on for me and show everypony that, sometimes, when given nothing but insane options, it's best to be insane yourself."

Finally done with my prep, I turned back to the doorway, the sound of V2s no longer scratching on the other side, and began to open them. I looked again down the hallway which had been nothing but black first time around, then turned to look back at Widow, who now had tears on the verge of pouring, yet retained her dumbfounded face...that frail Fluttershy really knew how to fight a mental battle, I'll give her that. Changing my grin to a soft smile, I turned back to the hallway and began walking back, the doors closing slowly automatically like they were designed to. I could hear Widow suddenly start shouting, but there was nothing for me to hear.

I was once more, again, unto the breech...one last time.

"The Part Where I Kill You. (This is it)"

So, everypony knows those stages of emotion which follow the realization that you're going to die, right? Yeah...I kinda just skipped to the "acceptance" part and quietly made my way down the empty hall. I figured the AI hadn't spotted me yet, or he was waiting. Waiting to set-up some kind of challenge for me to battle, since, you know, he seems to find joy in doing that. The entire walk, I focused on nothing but that pain in my side, and nothing else, except for moving one hoof in front of the other. I didn't want to think about home, about my team, or about...Luna. I didn't want to flake-out because I couldn't bring myself to leave them. I needed to stay focused on preventing the AI, and his army of scientific freaks, from escaping.

I really wish I had some kind of music to play at that time. Music always distracted me, always kept my mind off of...things. Would have been useful.

"Ugh, what I would give for some kickin' hardstyle right now..."

Ever since discovering that wonderful and powerful class of music, I was just simply in love with it! I would always train with some Showtek, PWN-3, or other kick-flank group blasting from the speakers. It was like a...ritual of mine, you could say. Either I'd have to find Pip's helmet, since I was sure he had something of interest I could play on there, or just imagine the song in my head...or, forget about music altogether.

I sighed, hefting up the Plasma Reactor then placing it over my shoulder, next to Undertaker, "What's a mare to do, huh?"

I saw the doors back into the construction room, where I knew every single last abomination was waiting. I had encountered no resistance the entire trip, so they knew I was coming. I was just a bit surprised the AI wasn't trying to escape yet. I guess he really just wanted to kill me personally...I was fine with that. Slowly, calmly, I entered the Construction Room again, finding that I was correct in believing that he was waiting for me. Every V2 was attached to a wall somewhere; every Mech was primed and ready to fire at me, set in teams of arcs; and vehicles of every kind were on and facing me. Then, high above everything, primed at the head of the Scarab, was the same platform which previously carried the AI.

He was in the room with me.

He wanted to kill me...

I was going to kill him first.

"I know about those explosives, dear." the AI's voice boomed through the speakers in the entire room, "I just wanted to first crush you myself. It will only take ten minutes."

I shook my head, rolling my eyes, then noticed something laying on the ground nearby. Pip's helmet.

'Music...'

I waved a hoof and started shouting "HEY" towards the AI's pedestal up on the Scarab until he responded, "WHAT!? What is it!?"

"Mind plugging that helmet into that Scarab of yours and blasting some music?" I asked, "I mean, if you get out of here you get all the information stored on it, so you don't really lose anything."

"What kind of request IS this!?" the AI asked incredulously, "Are you MAD!?"

"No, I just like listening to music." I smirked, "I wanna go out in a bang, with some kickin' music blaring."

The AI was silent for a few moments before hesitantly responding, "Fine...I'll consider it a...death request."

I patiently watched as a V2 darted over and grabbed the helmet, looking it over cautiously as if it would explode in it's hands...or, claw-pincers...things. It then scurried away to fly up to the AI. A couple seconds later, the V2 flew back down without any helmet and the AI was making a small laughing noise.

"Did you REALLY just hand me the location of your HOMEWORLD!?"

I laughed at this in turn, obviously catching him off guard, "Oh geese, you've been in here for some time, I see..."

"Explain!"

"My homeworld, as well as the human homeworld, has already been attacked," he grumbled angry at this, "But there are other things on there you will find interesting. Now can you put the music on shuffle, please?" a moment later, the sound of eerie wind and a chilling Pipe-Organ Piano echoed through the halls. It has begun...

I grabbed a grenade from my clip, then tossed it once, looking at it distantly. Pursing my lips, I shifted my eyes over to the Scarab and the coward it held, "You're right, ten minutes is all it will take..."

I let the grenade fall, unclipping it, then punted it hard. In a few moments, as a lead guitar began to accompany the Organ, building up for an entrance, the grenade exploded in mid air and presented a small screen of smoke that would only last for a couple seconds. That was all I needed.

"Let's kick some ass..." I hefted the Plasma Reactor by my side, cocked a safety mechanism, and depressed the trigger, the sound of building energy humming as the ventilation holes in the weapon began to glow a bright blue, "And let's give 'em all HELL!"

The vocals of the song kicked in as the intensity behind the music ramped-up, just in time for my attack to begin. I blasted away the smoke as a powerful burst of pure, unhindered explosive energy rocketed out of the barrel like a jet, then another, and another, and ANOTHER! The separation between each shot was slowly dwindling as the energy built-up even more, and with each bit of recoil my body took, the more adrenaline that pumped through me, and the more excited and hysterical I became! The entirety of the AI's forces had to scatter away or be obliterated by my weapon in an explosion of beautiful blue, green, and metal which just created the most wonderful lighting and shadows I had ever seen. Vehicles were totaled, Mechs were wrecked, and V2s were disintegrated...this weapon was simply amazing!

This weapon was breaking my focus, my mind, "Heh...heheh! Hahahah! Ah-hahahaaaa!" I grinned like a maniac, completely and total excitement flaring in my eyes like a wildfire. The nagging feeling of bloodlust was creeping back...something that hadn't been in the light since Equis. I thought I had gotten over it. Apparently not.

"Die, die! DIE!" I ripped through another group of Mechs, blasting them to oblivion amidst the blue plasma, "ALL OF YOU DIIIIEEEE!!!"

"What are you waiting for!?" the AI screamed, "Shoot back!"

Finally, after I had completely wrecked a fairly large sum of the AI's forces, they began to retaliate. It took a sever lance of burning pain to my leg to realize that I was being shot at, since I was having way too much fun.

"Gah! Buck!" slipping somewhat back into my senses, I twisted and jerked to the side as a volley of plasma and needles zipped by, but I kept the trigger down, amazed that the thing hadn't overheated yet, "Took you long enough!" I shouted, ripping even more of the mechs apart, "How long were you just planning on letting me r-BWAAAG!" I dropped the Plasma Reactor, my hooves suddenly burning in pain, then looked down to find that they were slightly scorched and the entire weapon was smoking, "Well buck!" Suddenly, at the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps, I looked back up just in time to witness a heavy metal slab slam into me, sending me tumbling back quite a bit.

After managing to plant my hooves back down and skid across the floor, I saw that a mech had charged me and whacked me with one of it's arms and was about to open fire on my sorry flank. I quickly flipped Undertaker down and shouldered him, aiming her towards the ground at first, but then quickly swiping the barrel upwards as I started to kick backwards into a backflip. Right as the line of fire passed over the mech, I pulled the trigger and let the energy from the kickback flow into the backflip. The mech was ripped apart and I flipped out of the way of a couple shots from other mechs and V2s. Immediately upon landing, I caught the sight of a Ghost speeding at me from my right, so I prepped myself for impact and waited until the right moment to move. At the last moment, I spun, jumped, raised a hoof, and brought an axe kick so hard, I wrecked the hood and sent the purple speedster flipping over my head to have it land on a mech which had been approaching me.

I turned to see a group of V2s scurrying over the wreckage and quickly whipped the DMR up to take aim at the fuel-cell on the Ghost's side. Grinning, I shot one bullet and caused an explosion big enough to wipe every last of those approaching V2s out.

"Fools, fools, FOOLS! KILL HER! SHE IS BUT ONE, WEAK, LITTLE, PONY!" he screamed furiously, "Why will you not just DIE!?"

I looked back to the AI's resting place, the music continuing to blast. It may not have been hardstyle, but this song was probably one of the best songs to listen to in my time of dying. Knowing what was next in the song, I screamed the next part with it...

"Because...I'm not ready to die!"

I slipped the DMR off of my shoulder and grabbed my pistol, making sure the safeties were off, then charged ahead into the crowd of V2s which had amassed. Firing quick and moving swiftly, I popped many in the head. As I reached the crowd, I flattened the head of the first one I encountered with my DMR then kicked it away, deeper into the swarm. Quickly, before any of the dead around me could explode, I jumped high into the air and reloaded the DMR, tossing the pistol above me so I could use both hooves. While up there, many more V2s were killed by their dead companions' explosions, bringing a satisfying smile to my lips. Just as I finished reloading, the pistol fell to me and I caught it in my mouth, aiming with both hooves at the crowd below me and taking down a few more V2s.

Upon landing, I was forced to run hard to avoid the explosions from the V2s I had killed. I immediately had to deal with a screeching bugger, though, and quickly rolled over top of it, kicking off of the thing's back to get me going quicker. Yet still, the explosions were uncomfortably close, nipping at my hooves and nearly knocking me over. The shadow they cast in front of me, though, was quite sweet-looking! With the last of the explosions, I dove and tumbled back to my hooves to headbutt a V2 which was about to claw at me, immediately after, I pulled the trigger of my pistol, which had remained clamped within my maw, with my tongue and the damn thing lost it's entire face. Before it fell, I snap-kicked the sucker away. Turning slowly, I let the blue explosion blow my mane around wildly as I stared-down the remaining enemies, grinning devilishly.

"Who's next?" I asked.

I was answered, fortunately, by a moderately sized spider like vehicle-looking thing jumping through the purple and blue flames left behind by the V2s' explosions.

"Oh...shit."

Immediately, I started to reload my pistol, but dropped my DMR to quicken the pace. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to pick it back up once done as the Spider-like vehicle was upon me. I dashed to the side and avoided being crushed by one of it's eight mechanical legs, only to run face first into another leg, slamming my muzzle hard into it.

"GWOOF, ow!"

Before I could react, yet another leg whacked me into the air, then began to charge some kind of cannon on it's back, similar to the large one on the back of a Scarab, except smaller.

"Damn, damn, damn!" I hastily shoved the pistol into my mouth and shouldered Undertaker, taking quick aim at the Arachnid's (which is what I have come to call it) rear cannon. I fired at the same time it started to, but luckily my bullet blasted the whole cannon to bits before more than three bursts of heavy plasma rocketed towards me. Again, luckily, the recoil kicked my out of the way of the plasma and I fell back to the ground without a hitch.

"Suck this!" I shouted, unclipping another grenade then pitching it straight into the head-cannon of the monstrosity of a vehicle. Soon after, the whole thing erupted in a simply astounding plume of blue, magenta, and metal as my grenade sent it's power core reeling.

"Mother of Celestia this is getting tough..." The fatigue was really starting to hit me like a brick wall at this point. I had done a good job of pushing through it, ignoring the pains and aches, but, with my chest heaving, t was obvious I could, and would, collapse at any moment. I had to step it up, though, to keep him distracted for just a bit longer...I was not going to do this in vain, I was going to make sure nothing left that factory alive...well, that was my plan anyway. I honestly didn't expect to succeed.

"Oh...oh dear Celestia..." I huffed, leaning over and holding up a shaky hoof, "Mi...whew, mind giving a mare...a-a second here, boys?" I asked, "I am pretty much out of breath here..."

"Well isn't that sad?" I grimaced at the sound of his snobby and stuck-up voice, "Looks like you are finished here, Vermin." I straightened-up as much as I easily could and shifted my eyes around, silently taking in the surrounding army of remaining V2s, mechs, and vehicles. I was a bit disappointed, actually, seeing that I had actually come close to destroying them all, "Looks like you're done."

I didn't respond, instead reached into a bag I had recently acquired and slipped around my right arm, then pulled out a syringe.

"I'm not ready to die." I muttered, "Not just...yet." I slammed the needle into my thigh and injected the adrenaline shot, once again forcing my heart back into overdrive and knocking my senses for a loop. I knew this much intense and extremely exerting force was bad for my body, but...I just didn't have choice! This was confirmed as a sudden jolt of pain piled through my entire body, centered at my chest, with a beat of my heart. Oh yes, this really was not working with my body well...

I cringed and stumbled slightly, shoving a hoof over y mouth to cover-up a spurt of blood, accompanied by a cough.

"You poor soul..." the AI mocked, "Let me put you out of your misery!"

With the initial pain gone, the numbing and energizing effects fully taking hold, I grabbed the metal box which would transform back into the suit...hopefully. Much to my delight, when I went to remove it, it instead remained connected in the same spot and unfolded, then connected to the rest of my armor as snugly as if it was made for it. Upon looking at something familiar inscribed into the arm, I noticed that it was indeed UNSC tech...and the Covey had tried to convert it to their own armor. Fortune smiled upon me then.

With a grin, I clipped my pistol back to my thigh, beside the energy sword, still, and resided myself again to obliterate the rest of those bastards. They did the same for me.

"Not yet...not yet...I'm not ready to die...not...YEEEEET!"

With a ferocious roar that would have scared a lion, I charged, no hold-bars, towards the surrounding armada in front of me. They quickly started to open fire, yellow, blue, green, and pink zipping towards me in numerous amounts, but I was ready. I kicked and launched myself high into the air, pointing my arms at the shooters below me.

"But you...ALL OF YOU..." I depressed the trigger, enormous spikes rocketing out of the through the chains, out the barrels, and through mechanical and skeletal bodies alike, "YOU ARE READY TO DIE AMD BURN IN HELL!!!"

I again allowed my mind to slip into it's dark state, my logical thought receding into the dark to give my primal and animalistic instincts full reign for the first time in a long time. Everything here is really a blur...just a lot of movement, loud noises, and a HELL of a lot of kicking and ripping. I was knocked, again back into my right mind with a metal arm to the head. After picking myself up off the ground, I immediately stumbled and had to catch myself with a hoof to the wall. It had only been a minute, I think, and the adrenaline was practically gone...I had more shots though...

The few remaining V2s and mechs were closing in while the Scarab's head stared at me intently, much like it had been doing the entire battle. Widow told me that an overdose would kill me, cause my heart to explode...but I had no other option! I could barely move as it was, so I would become quickly ripped to shreds if I just waited for them to attack...

"Okay, enough of this." the AI yawned while the sound of building energy surged through the room. My ears caught the sound and forced my eyes to look upon certain doom as a bright blue glow lit-up the room from the Scarab's mouth. To top it off...the song was ending. I had but four minutes to pull something amazing and not die from a direct blast by a Scarab, "Time to become dust!"

With what little strength I had left, I threw the battle suit off of me, letting it clatter to the ground in a mess of chains, metal, and a spike or two, then reached into the same bag as before to grab another shot. I stared at the liquid worriedly, knowing full well that it would be very likely for it to make my heart explode...but at the sound of high-pitched energy readying to fire, I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and slammed it back into my thigh, hoping to Celestia, to Luna, and even to Discord and Nightmare Moon that I would not die there.

'Fifteen Minutes...'

Only a moment later, gasped in pain as the feeling of constricting hit me. The feeling started at my chest, and slowly spread. It wasn't like a burning feeling, no, but more like having your body entirely wrapped in snakes and squeezed. It became hard to move and my vision rapidly shifted through being as clear as day, to blurry, to darker than black, then back again. Then my heart gave a pulse, and the entirety of every feeling I just explained doubled...

"HAAAAAHHH!" I screamed in agony, feeling for pain than I had ever felt before.

'Fifteen minutes...'

I couldn't discern any noise, any smell, or any sight. All I felt, all I WAS, was just pain. At some point I fell to my behind, a sever twitching in my right fore hoof being the only indication I was still actually alive and not burning in hell.

Then another pulse...but instead of pain and the repeating sound of Widow saying "fifteen minutes," I felt something warm and the sound of a distant voice whispering to me...and it said:

"...reason to live"

I could feel again, I could see again, and, most importantly, I could hear again. What I heard, was a loud blast of pure, white-hot energy, following by a quickly-growing flash of bright light. The Scarab had fired and I was directly in it'a path. Not even giving myself time to think, I rolled backwards and instructively grabbed for my Pistol and Energy Sword. Quickly pushing into a sprint, I ran out of the path of the blast, diving landing on my back as the energy knocked into me. Nit wasting any time, I rolled back onto my hooves and sliced a V2 down the middle, skidding to a halt a couple feet behind where I killed it.

Suddenly, my heart gave a strained pulse and pain rocketed through my body again. I twitched before stumbling and coughing, quite unpleasantly, a bit of blood onto the ground at my hooves. After that, though, the pain dispersed as my heart began beating at a less painful and more normal pace as the V2 exploded. I saw the Scarab through the smoke, and the AI's brain resting atop it. Narrowing my eyes, I kicked off hard and jumped through the flame. My goal was the Scarab, and everything in front of me was going to be wasted, THAT much, I knew.

"Wha-!? N-no! Kill her! Kill her! Don't let her touch me!"

I heard the AI's scream of terror, and only grinned at the realization that he was scared...of ME. A weak, pliable vermin which he only saw as a lab rat.

A mech jumped into my path, attempting to crush me with it's fists, but I slashed them off as I slid under it's legs, dropping a grenade under it as I went. Pushing back to my hooves as the explosion blew it to bits, I stared directly at the AI's pedestal and scream, as loud as I could.

"ONE TWO, I'M COMMIN' FOR YOU!"

A group of V2s zipped in front of me, but I quickly and deftly popped each of them in the head and continued on, ignoring the explosions as I reloaded.

The Scarab had already started to recharge it's headcannon, but I was too far on to be hit. It fired as I ran under it's body, only accomplishing in obliterating a group of V2s and two mechs.

"NO! Please NO! Kill her, KIIILL HEEERR!"

Another mech tried to block my path, along with three V2s, but it didn't matter. The couldn't stop me at that point, nothing could. The mech opened fire while the V2s, each with bladed arms, prepared to defend it. I raised my sword and knocked away the grenade the mech fired, the explosion knocking my mane askew and lighting everything blue for a moment. Realizing this wouldn't work, the mech began to fire at me with it chain of spikes. I slimmed low and to the right, each one missing, then came upon the metal warrior, ready to end it. A V2 tried to swipe at my head, but I surprised it by catching the thing's bladded arm in my mouth. Before it could recover from the shock of this, I jerked my head and jumped, throwing it to the ground while launching myself up to the mech's head. I quickly stabbed it's metallic face with my sword while shooting the other two V2s through the head.

Jerking my sword out, I waited for the imminent explosions, looking up at the rear entrance to the Scarab, grinning. At the last moment, I jumped, the force behind the explosions aiding in my climb. Upon landing, I swathe Scarab's core waiting and ready to be utter RAPED.

I grabbed Undertake, again, from my back and aimed, grinning like a madmare and shouting, "THREE FOUR, HERE GOES YOUR CORE!"

I forgot all about the kickback in my somewhat slurred state of mind, but the core was instantly obliterated. Barely able to grab the edge, I dropped Undertaker to the ground below and pulled myself back up with a grunt. The entire monstrosity was shaking and rumbling as sparks and small explosion erupted through it's entire structure. V2s were scrambling about everywhere as they tried to escape their rapidly approaching doom, but I ignored them, pulling my pistol and sword out again and rapist making my way to the top. Some buggers, though, were unfortunate enough to get in my way, and they quickly met their fate sooner with a flick of my hoof. Others, though, I just couldn't help but blasting their heads off, hehe.

"FIVE SIX, THE TIMER STILL TICKS!"

I skidded around a corner, exiting the interior of the Scarab while sounds of drastically building energy and small explosions blasted all around me, the overload alarm blaring in my ears. The AI's pedestal was directly in front of me, and all I could hear, even above the loud sounds of the imminent catastrophe, was the bell which tolled for HIM.

"NO! NO! NOOOOO! DON'T DO THIS! I BEG OF YOU! I WILL DO ANYTHING!!!"

I charged on, throwing my pistol away as my lips curled into a devilishly manic grin. There would be nothing that could stop me from reaching him, and he knew it.

"SEVEN EIGHT, IT IS FAR TOO LATE!"

Ass I passed, I scooped Pip's helmet into my free hoof, gripping it tightly. Then a high-pitched screaming sound rocketed through the air, indicating that the Scarab was at it's breaking point and would explode in only a moment. Kicking myself into overdrive, I sliced the AI's pedestal off then punted it high into the air, his voice screaming is sheer terror all throughout the room. I ran a bit further and sprinted up the back-cannon and jumped as hard as I could, the powerful and immense explosion rocketing my up high and fast as it shook my entire body to the core and even singed a bit of my armor and tail.

"NO! NO! NO!"

He continued to cry it terror as I burst through the smoke and flame like a bullet, my sword ready and my smile as deranged as it ever would be.

"NINE TEN!" I screamed through the air, nearing the little computer high above the ground.

"THIS."

I had done it. I had destroyed their entire army.

"IS."

It's quite sad, really...there was no need for the explosives...well...

"THE."

I wouldn't have been able to do it if I wasn't pushed so hard. You know what they say, when a cat has it's back to a wall, it will scratch. Still, though...I have to admit, it was fun, but after that, it was was the...

"END!"

I slashed hard and his voice quickly died, dissipating into scratchy static, and, soon enough, nothing.

Halsey remained quiet. Trying to process the Artificial Artemis's story. It was quite a story, indeed, though, and was hard to grasp just how she did it.

'Her heart should have given in from that first injection...yet she survived a second!' Halsey thought, pursing her lips in thought, 'Does she actually contain some kind of vast reserves of Magic, like her unicorn counterparts? Or was her willpower just THAT powerful?'

"Halsey."

Artemis's voice broke her chain of thought, bringing her eyes back to the red, holo-generated pony in full Spartan attire, save for the helmet, of course.

"It wasn't entirely her willpower, you know." Halsey furrowed her brow in confusion, but remained quiet as the AI continued, "Back in Equestria, the Elements of Harmony overcame many impossible feats with something you should learn about called friendship...well, magic made it all complete, really, but that's not important." the fake Artemis laughed a little before continuing, "There are things that can drive a pony to do thing unimaginable, Halsey, things that even your augmentations cannot accomplish. Things that magic itself cannot even do! As much as I hated you...I hope one day you find-out what I'm talking about."

Halsey's finger hovered over the "DELETE" button for a moment, but suddenly felt like there was something more to be told, something that might bring to light how it all truly ended.

"What? Can you stop dawdling and press the damn button already?" Holomis asked, tapping a hoof impatiently.

Halsey took her hand away and put it back in her lap, "Not just yet, I want you to continue, up until the point where you...she died."

Quick! We need reinforcements on the Fourth Wall!

"AHHHHH, IT IS GOOOOD TO BE BAAACK AND READY TO MAKE SOME M-why is my voice...higher?"

As the flash faded, a new, feminine and somewhat ostentatious voice, which clearly was not Diana's, reached their ears, and when they could finally see again, their jaws hit the floor.

"Go on, DiscordIA, stretch your hooves...and paws...and horns." Diana snickered, sitting upright on the bed and waving a hoof at the new..."pony" in the room.

"Did...did you say...oh-ho-ho, you little sneak, you." the new guest looked to Diana with narrowed eyes, but a playful grin was present none-the-less, "You knew from the beginning, didn't you?"

Both Pip and Cross were still trying to comprehend what they saw before them while Diana and Discordia chatted. From what appeared to have happened, little "Sluggy" had suddenly transformed into the very spirit of chaos and anarchy himse-er...herself, Discord...um, now, Discordia. Aside from the voice, his-I MEAN HER-body structure was slightly smaller and more curvaceous. Still, the mismatched eyes and body parts remained, and the same condescending speech was ever present.

"Why don't you just flip back to being a guy?" Diana asked wryly, sticking her half-concealed face into that of the draconequus, both of their respective pairs of eyes flashing in equally mischievous manners.

"OKAY, OKAY! WHAT THE BUCK IS GOING ON HERE!?" Cross finally blurted out, her face contorted into an angry and confused sneer, "How the HELL did you get HERE!?"

Both Diana and Discordia turned and gave Cross a questing stare, scaring her slightly and making her jump behind Pip for protection.

"How's 'bout you explain it, hmm?" Diana asked, leaning back and laying on her bed with her fore hooves behind her head.

"Alrighty...I assume you know of my...defeat, back on Equis by the Elements of Harmony, no?" she paused only long enough to watch her two audience members nod, "Well, immediately upon the death of the first Element Bearers, the cage spell cracked, and I quickly whittled as far through as I could before the land was decimated by those giant lasers." she sighed, shaking her head in disappointment, "Unfortunately, I was only able to slip out a small portion of my entire essence...which was quickly contained by those brutish monkeys and stored away in that infernal factory."

"Wait, so...ya attacked Ar'emis and Reyna i' there?" Pip asked, stepping closer to the feminine mish-mash of creatures before him with a curious stare.

"Well, ah, no...I was the power source behind the whole place, you see, but when they shut it down I...slipped into that monstrous creature and could do nothing but wait inside it. That is, until that Artemis blasted the beasty to pieces. It was pretty spectacular, really, how she managed to pick me out of the rest of the monster's corpse!"

"Sh-she what!? She KNEW from the beginning!?" Cross shouted in confusion, "HOW!?

"Being the master, or, mistress, of all that is illogical and insane, I have a knack for attracting such." Discordia winked, then slithered backwards through the air, tumbling and making a somewhat painful looking loop shape over Diana and pointing to her, "How do you think she figured-out who I truly was, hmmm?"

Cross and Pip both nodded, recognizing the valid, yet still somewhat whimsical statement.

"Only recently did I store-up enough energy to rematerialize into a legible form...I would have done it sooner but," Discordia disappeared in a pop of white light, reappearing as part of Diana's bed, seemingly woven into the cloth, "I was enjoying being a little spy. But Lulu's looking for my services and I just couldn't pass-up an opportunity to cheer-up my favorite Alicorn!"

Diana, who had been peacefully resting on her bed, suddenly found herself face planting the floor as her bedsheet zipped out from under her and twirled back into the life-sized Discordia.

"Jerk..." the black-clothed mare remarked venomously, glaring at the grinning illusionist as she floated in the center of the room.

"Takes one to know one."

Vinyl Scratch absentminded flipped through her tracks, her normally "ready and roarin'" attitude towards upcoming parties totally dead. Truthfully, she's been bored out of her mind as of late, with very few Covey forces taking action, and even less insurrectionists making problems, really nothing had needed attention. While Artemis was around, at least there'd always be something interesting happening somewhere or another. She hadn't even come up with a new set to perform for the party that was only hours away, even though she had promised many to reveal one of her best mixes yet.

Her best music came when she was in her best and most pumped moods, but there had been nothing to place her in those moods since Christmas.

"Aero was right, we really do need something Chaotic to happen..." she sighed, hanging her head low and lifting old mixes out of her cases with magic, her horn ignited a slick blue, "I don't even feel like doing any real mixing tonight...I'm just ganna let the autoplay do it's job and sit at the bar..."

With another sigh, Miss Scratch levitated all of her tracks back into their cases and started to sulk away. On her way back to her own quarters, her attention was grabbed by the sound of some kind of scuffle and, being the adventurously curious type, decided to investigate. Though, as she was approaching the door from which the noises were emanating from, she was quickly forced to duck as it broke off it's hinges and it, along with another pony, flew over her head, skimming her electric-blue mane.

"Pip!"

When the DJ Pon3 looked back up, she saw a horrified-looking mare with a blue coat and an injection needle for a cutie mark staring at the mess which had just flown past her. Behind her was one of the newbies to the base, Diana, who had a clearly mischievous look in her eyes as she slowly shoved by the first mare.

"You heard the Spirit. She needs a bit of fighting and disorder to gather a bit more strength." Diana spoke darkly, but with clear excitement behind her voice, "¡Lo es la hora de fiesta!"

Vinyl ducked again as the apparently Spanish-fluent pony dove over her, the sound of hoof on ground hitting her ears before she could look back up.

"What the buck is going on!?" the DJ shouted, zipping upright and staring at the combating Spartans while Cross sat beside her, shifting nervously.

"How about I explain that once the entertainment is done."

Vinyl furrowed her brow in confusion, not noticing that somepony else was there as well, then turned to find Discordia resting on a reclining chair (which was not there a moment ago), paw in an empty bowl and grabbing at air only to have bundles of buttery popcorn appear as she went to throw the piles of nothing into her maw.

Vinyl's jaw was on floor.

"C'mon! Do you REALLY need to know that!?"

The Holographic reconstruction of Artemis huffed angrily at her human creator, her fake chest heaving as she blew artificial breaths out, swishing the strands of computer-generated mane which hung over her eyes. Her blood composed of seemingly random ones and zeroes boiled to the extreme

"Why can't you just press the damn button already! I hate this dismal existence as an AI. While I am self aware, for the most part, I really have an enormous amount of bad experiences with AI..." the hologram shivered, recalling memories of the Real Artemis about a certain blue "ghost" which insisted he wasn't an AI.

"Just finish your story. Is that too much to ask?" Halsey questioned with smug concern.

"It was too much to ask just creating me, you dirty little tramp."

Halsey couldn't help but smirk. She always noticed that Artemis, both the real and artificial ones, contained many qualities of the mostly late Noble Team...always brash, and always ready to throw down when called upon. Perhaps she was being a bit harsh to the poor construct...but, Halsey had to be sure.

"I promise, this is the last thing I need." she confessed.

The red hologram thought for a moment, seemingly not satisfied. Then she put on a smug grin and crossed her fore hooves, "Pinkie Promise?"

Halsey, a bit caught off guard, didn't know how to respond to this...until she recalled something Luna had once done out of habit (at least, that's what the Alicorn's excuse was). Halsey put her own grin on, then responded.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a...cupcake in my eye." she answered, winking and placing a hand over her right eye.

The hologram blinked in shock, eyes wide, "Well...damn..." she sighed, then sat down on the air underneath her hooves, ready to finish, "I passed-out during the fall back to the ground, you see, and woke-up soon after to find Pip's helmet still in my hoof, while the energy sword had disappeared..."

Ain't no Rest for the Wicked

Pip groggily raised his ringing head. The first blow was dizzying, then the second had sent him, along with the door, to the ground meters away from the stoop. He thought she had said something to him, but was still too out of it to hear what it was by the time she was done...wait, was that Vinyl talking to Discordia?

Suddenly, his instincts told him that staying in his spot on the ground would result in severe pain in a moment, so he flung his body right and dodged a heavy hoof by inches.

"Slick, now keep it going!"

Pip rolled quickly to his rear hooves, fore hooves up and ready to retaliate. He really didn't want to fight this Artemis imitate, but she really gave him no choice in the matter, so...

"Hya!" Pip blocked a right jab, then responded with a powerful right of his own, except this one had more force than a train behind it.

Diana, completely unsuspecting, literally flew backwards until she broke through the wall beside the now empty doorway. The two pony spectators stared at Pip in shock as bits of broken wood and concrete broke and fell into the new gaping hole.

Discordia, on the other hoof...was rolling on her back and laughing in sheer delight, "Oh WOW she did NOT see that coming!"

Pip straightened up and glared at the damage he had done, thinking that perhaps he had overdone it. The thing with some of the newer Spartans is that they tend to specialize in a certain area, like strength, speed, agility, accuracy, or intelligence. Pip was one of the stronger types, as just proven. Artemis, he thought, was probably more of an agility and speed fighter. Diana...well, she supposedly wasn't a Spartan and Pip had yet to asses her abilities.

"Fuck, that will leave quite a mark..." Diana hopped out of the hole casually, as though nothing had happened, and rubbed the cloth around her chin and muzzle, "You're strong, yes? This will be fun."

Discordia grinned devilishly while Cross looked on in fear and Vinyl...stared wide-eyed into space. Nopony noticed this though...

Pip motioned for Diana to make her move, continuing to glare daggers with a clearly annoyed scowl. She happily obliged and ran at him again, prepared to completely knock him to the floor until the sun went down! Quickly, only a step away from making contact, Diana slammed a hoof and swung her upper body low, spinning on that hoof and starting a round-house kick of epic proportions. Fortunately, Pip anticipated this and caught her hoof, though he was forced to skid backwards a slight bit.

"Well..." Pip grunted and began to force Diana back, lifting, "Damnit." The aggressing mare suddenly found herself flipping through the air with no sense of up or down, 'He's really much more of a problem than I thought...I never knew he was so powerful!' Diana thought somewhat disappointedly—in herself, that is—as she finally righted herself and began the rapid descent back to Earth.

Discordia took a deep breath, the power within her already building from this minor source, "Ahhh...conflict, disorder...it just brings a smile to my face and a..." she lifted a leg, staring at it's new and temporarily metallic and twisted form, "spring to my step!"

Pip rolled his eyes at the cheesy joke before bringing his attention back to the mare in front of him which seemed hell bent on pounding him into the dirt. She was already poised to slam a hoof down upon his head, which he now had no time to dodge due to being distracted by Discordia. Mentally slapping himself for this Rookie mistake, he raised both fore hooves and blocked the attack, though he did almost collapse from buckling knees. As soon as Diana started to let-up, he forced his stance upwards and flung her hoof away, sending her off balance with worried and apologetic stare in her eyes.

"Well buck, this will hurt..."

And hurt it did. The force behind the following blow momentarily knocked Diana's lights out. When they came back on, she was back inside her room and a third hole was in the wall, 'Ugh...thank Celestia for this body, else I'd be a sack of dead meat!...I need to stop underestimating his strength...'

Again, Pip and the three spectators watched as Diana stepped out of the new hole, rubbing her cheek as the cloth around her muzzle betrayed an oddly excited smile, "So, where'd you learn to fight? Surely not this army?"

"I t'ght meself." Pip answered, "Bu' she go' me star'ed."

Diana hopped down to the round again, shaking her limbs out and hopping a few times before falling into a fighting stance, "'She?' Who is 'she'?"

"Somepony tha' I, an' a lo' o' others, rea'ly miss."

Diana shifted her stance, but her gaze gave away nothing. Everything after that remained silent as the two combatants stared eachother down and their spectators wondered what unspoken words were being spoken between them...until Diana actually spoke them.

"Boohoo, wah-wah-wah, die." Without warning, and with one sudden and fluid movement, Diana produced a small weighted knife and flung it at Pip.

Cross and Vinyl didn't even see it. Pip didn't have time to react to it. Discordia, though, did.

Pip closed his eyes and flinched, waiting for the inevitable burning which would ensue...but it never came. After waiting for about ten seconds, he reopened his eyes to find Discordia holding the knife with a disappointed stare, Cross and Vinyl frantically looking back and forth between where Discordia once stood and where she ended up, and Diana, fore hooves crossed, held upside down by the draconequus's tail.

"Really now, did you HAVE to ruin the fun, Diana?" the spirit of Discord asked sadly, "It was shaping up to be a good one, too! So now where can I find some good 'ol craziness? I don't see a Pinkie Pie around anymore, do you?"

Pip was still trying to process what just happened, and Diana refused to speak, but Vinyl finally felt every last thing click into it's place at that instant.

"BY CELESTIA'S BEARD, I GOT IT!" All eyes turned to the DJ as she jumped in joy, "I know how to make EVERPONY...and—ahem—everything, happy!"

Cross, finally succumbing to her anxiety, charged at Pip with tears flowing freely, "Huh? Wha's tha' Viny-OOMF!"

Cross tackled her ever-loving coltfriend to the ground and smothered him in nuzzles, kisses, and hooves, while he tried, and failed, to calm her down. Discordia, at that same time, let Diana fall to the ground and turned to the DJ with an interested gleam in her slightly mismatched eyes.

"Really now? How's that?"

The white unicorn smiled brightly and flipped down her shades, "Ever wanted to give a hoof at co-DJing?"

Burning...inside and out. Everything just WAS burning. From the tips of my hooves to the tips of my ears. Then came the pulsing. My heart slowly and painfully began to wake, each beat sending a shockwave of needles, fire, and energy through every inch of my body. At first, I couldn't see or hear anything, but slowly, ever so slowly, it all started to come back. First was a loud and obnoxious ringing, then something faint yet heavy started to fade it's way in, thumping rather meekly. Following that was something raspy and which resembled an old, sputtering car.

"Ugh, is that me...?" Another torrent of coughs, "I sound like a WRECK." With a sudden twitch, my upper body flung upwards and a loud, pent-in gasp escaped my lips. After allowing a couple calming, yet somewhat painful breaths to heave through my lungs, I noticed I still had Pip's helmet in hoof, so I began messing with the transmission systems on it to see if I can find anypony near a radio.

"Hello? Anypony out there...?" I paused, hearing nothing but static as I waited for an answer. While I waited, I surveyed the construction room...or rather, what was left. Practically everything was either in pieces, on fire, or a combination of the two, "Anypony...? Hello?"

Suddenly, much to my delight, there was a response, "Hzzz-Hello? Artemis?"

A grin slipped across my muzzle, "Sup, fool?" I forced myself to my hooves, grimacing from the massive amounts of disagreement my body threw at me as I did so.

"Arzzzemis! You're azzzive!" Widow cried happily. The connection was a little frizzed, but it worked at least.

"Found Pip's helmet." I stated nonchalantly, peeking inside at the visor to find a timer, much to my dismay, counting down with flashing red lights all over the place, "Boosted signal like hell." I gave a small laugh, wondering how the buck I managed to keep the helmet during the whole explosion.

"Szzz-so you're ganna m-ffzk it out?"

I peered at the countdown timer again, noticing I had about thirty five seconds until I became little more than a scorch mark...so I started to run...only to nearly fall onto my face as my legs refused to comply, "Dunno...got thirty seconds left."

As I started at a decent hobble for the same doorway I entered through, stepping around debris everywhere, Widow screamed her response, "Zzzzen you get your scrawny flank up and rffftzz like hell!"

Deciding that any more pain and denial my body went through at that point would be acceptable payment for the possibility of making it out, I ignored each complaint sent my way and started at a full sprint down the slightly curving hallway. A couple seconds later, I lifted the helmet to my muzzle and replied, "Way ahead of you."

After that, I forced all other distractions out of mind. I'm sure Widow shouted at me more, but I had to stay attuned to running and ignoring the burning and stinging that came with every little movement. Heck, every hoof step sent a shockwave that could rival a 10.5 on the rhictor all the way up my leg and through my spine...but I ignored it. I had to make it home. I HAD to see everypony again...I had to finally get over myself and put out.

'To think, it took my near certain death to build-up the courage to break away from my fear of loss...' I thought with a mental laugh, 'And finally decide to tell her what I really want...how I really feel.'

A dazzling display of light amidst the shadow caught my attention as I started to round a corner, so I brought the helmet again to my muzzle, "I see the exit."

I caught a glimpse of my remaining time before lowering it again, though, and didn't like what I saw...

'I'm nit going to live...' I thought, admittedly disappointedly, 'Damn! At least if this was an execution I would get a last request!' Even with this realization, I continued to push on, running hard and fast, the only sounds reaching my ears were my rapidly and painfully beating heart, my shaky and heavy breaths, and my loud hoof falls. I discarded the helmet to allow me to run without any deterrent, 'My only regret...' I burst though the broken blast doors, noticing that they must have been shaken off by the Scarab explosion. Unfortunately, that was where I ran out of...everything. I was running on fumes as it was, so there was just nothing left inside of me to keep my body going. I stumbled, almost falling in exhaustion, and heaved over, gasping for breath...my last breaths, 'Is that I'm still a bucking virgin.'

Figuring they were watching, I flung my head back up and flashed 'em one of my best smiles yet. Then...

"Well, nothing."

Halsey stared at the small red Hologram before her. She knew that it couldn't really lie to her, that it only knew what information had been supplied and programmed into her, so she wasn't expecting to be outright told that Artemis had escaped...but she was also hoping for a hole, for a falsity in the story which might have held Artemis's true fate.

"I see...I guess we are done here, then." Halsey sighed, "I will review this later. Any last words before you're gone?" Halsey hovered her hand over the erase button again, staring at the Hologram expectantly.

After a couple moments of thought the tired-looking pony-projection yawned and waved a hoof, eyes closed "Nah, I think it's time to get laid to rest, personally..." Halsey nodded and finally depressed the button, but then the hologram spoke one last time, "But she will never rest, no matter how much she wants to."

Halsey narrowed her eyes at the now empty projection platform, "Even an artificial construct, you always like messing with our heads."

...

...//booting up

...

Systems Running//

//Warning!!!\

Final Level Security!

Please enter passcode now_

...

*Pass_hnt—

"I am a substance. An over dosage of my liquid form is fatal, and prolonged physical exposure to my solid form can cause severe skin damage. I am highly and easily addictive, and once one becomes dependent on me, quitting results in death within a few days. My liquid form is found almost throughout the entire world, and I am present within most food and drink. My chemical makeup is dihydrogen monoxide.

I am more commonly known as _____."

Please enter passcode now_

A/N—If you can solve the riddle, keep the answer in mind! It'll be relevant in the near future... >:P Also...DO NOT TELL OTHERS THE ANSWER OR I WILL END YOU.

Kthnxbai.

She's back in Crimson...literally!

The party Celebrating The New Year went on. Vinyl Scratch got the night pumping with a few old tracks and sets, but the party didn't truly start until a surprise Co-Mixer appeared. No one could really see her that well, but it was clear that she was a pony, and that her voice, upon introducing herself, clearly gave away one belonging to a pony of mischief and trickery. Her name, or so they thought, was Anarchy.

The two pony's mixed and DJ'd until the sun rose the next morning, with barely a break in between. All through the night, small events of hilarity or pleasing randomness ensued throughout the crowd, causing many to believe that some one had spiked the punch. No one ever assumed that the new unicorn which had appeared out of nowhere, then disappeared just as quickly the next morning, was actually a very happy, very eager to help, Spirit of Discord.

Of course, no one ever suspected that their favorite little psycho was actually just enjoying a little cat-nap, either, but that would be revealed soon enough...

...18 months later...

"She's gone! Just keep going! We can recover the body later!"

I refused to believe she was actually dead...over the last year and a half, I had actually learned probably a bit more about Diana than she ever wanted anypony to ever know, so I just KNEW she was still alive after that crash.

"More contacts! Damnit Pip! We don't have time to search now!"

Our Spacial attack on a Covenant Corvett turned sour when the Saber Diana and I had been piloting took a direct hit from a kamikaze Seraph. She managed to aim us into a docking bay in it's side, and I was luckily ejected through the front glass shield (though it hurt, severely bad), but there was no sign of her...of Diana.

"Pip! C'mon, please! We need your help!"

She had said please...but something else was pulling my attention. I looked over my shoulder at Widow, her form crouched behind a piece of my broken Saber, and she looked back. No words were passed, but she shook her head and continued to fire at the attacking Covey forces. She was allowing me time to search.

So I did. And I felt as though I knew exactly where she would be. Quickly lifting a somewhat flaming hunk of metal out of the way, I found her, amidst the entirety of the twisted metal and in a small alcove of safety, was Diana...or so I thought.

I dashed to her side and removed her helmet, her badly burned face showing no signs of life. It had turned out that she received severe burns at some point across almost her entire body, which was the supposed reason why she constantly remained covered. It was amazing that she delt with all the bleeding that would ensue after every encounter with enemies, due to the tearing of her burned-sensitive flesh. I quickly checked her pulse and found that it WAS there, but it was faint, so I started to shake her and shout her name...

"...eeemis!"

"Aaarrtmeissss!..."

"Artemis! Damnit, wake up you lazy plot-hole!"

My eyes opened. My brain slowly clicked back into the right place. My muscles began to work again...but no bones popped. My body, though, hurt like all hell to move for some reason.

"Took you damn long enough!"

Slowly, I started to sit up. Everything seemed to be just white everywhere...but I could feel heat all around me...I had no clue where I was, and I was starting to think I was dead. I mean, the last thing I remembered was the explosion...

Then I spoke, "Am I...dead?"

Then it hit me. And by it, I mean her hoof.

I tumbled backwards across the floor a couple feet before planting my hooves down and sliding to a halt. After looking up I saw that somepony almost entirely covered in black cloth stood before me, her eyes an oddly colored orange. I didn't really know who she was at first, but I felt as though she was familiar...and that she was about to try and pound my flank into the floor.

"I have been trying to wake you up for the past YEAR, you little bitch!" she shouted at me, obvious annoyance drenching her voice, "I only planned on staying around until I finished clearing your name, but you just HAD to be a heavy sleeper!"

I gave her a clearly confused stare, shaking my head slightly in dumbfoundment, "What the buck are you going on about?"

The cloth around her muzzle shifted...I think she scowled, "You know what, I'm going to wake you up now, alright, but it's going to be a kick to your ass that gets you there!"

Without warning, the clothed mare suddenly took a large stride towards me and aimed a kick to my chest. I obviously sidestepped, but she caught my mane as though she knew I would do it, then flung me back in front of her, spinning me to have my back to her.

"Wake up, you lucky bitch! Time to kill all of 'dem sons of bitches!"

Then I suddenly shot up from the hard, metallic floor with a severe pain in my flank...

She sprang up with a deep gasp, almost slamming into my helmet. Her chest heaved heavily and her eyes looked somewhat glazed over, as though she had just woken up from a long sleep.

"Diana, can you move?" I asked, holding a hoof on her shoulder.

She seemed to ignore me, slowly and somewhat shakily standing, picking up the pistol which had been beside her hoof when I found her. I only watched, trying to see if any other injuries were present besides the multiple bleeding spots from torn skin...that's when I noticed something odd, yet familiar...but I couldn't yet place a hoof on what exactly it was...

"Diana?" I asked, watching as she looked the pistol over in her hoof.

She again ignored me, peering out at the firefight nearby, her back to me. I waited a couple of moments and all she did was raise her free hoof to her face. When she brought it down, she dropped two, tiny and thin pieces of material before suddenly ripping off the rest of the burnt cloth from the exposed neck section of her armor.

As she did so, I caught sight if her Cutie Mark from between the displaced armor for the first time...a golden bow and arrow with a crescent moon in the background. Something seemed...strange. She fixed it all up and grabbed her helmet quickly after.

"Your on a Covey Corvette, go do what you do best and blow the fuck out of it."

I glared down at the two eye-color contacts which Diana had used to change her eye color from red to orange. They were yellow, but mixed with my vibrant crimson to make a very oddly colored orange. It was very annoying, but she did help me, after all, so I let it slide. Still...

"You got a pistol and an SMG...you should be fine with that, right?"

Even after waking up, she continued to talk to me, standing beside me while Squirt tried to understand what was happening. He'd figure it out soon enough...

"It'll be more than enough..." I replied before turning my head slightly over my shoulder so I could look at my old partner, "Oi, Pipsqueak, watch my back, will ya?"

"It'll be more than enough..."

I shook my head in confusion, wondering what Diana was talking about, then I noticed something else...her grin...HER GRIN.

"Oi, Pipsqueak, watch my back, will ya?"

She looked at me with those eyes...those eyes again. They were completely and totally deranged...they were a vibrant crimson...they weren't Diana's...

She took off, dashing out of the wreckage before I could finish understanding what I saw, even though there was no other explanation besides that she was back...

I was back. I was well rested. And I was fully prepared to, again, make every last son of a bitch in that entire ship BURN LIKE EQUIS.

My armor may have been downgraded to ODST standards, my swords may have not been there, and my skills might not be up to par with what they used to be, but my drive was as strong as ever, and I was roaring and ready to kick some flank.

"Jesus fuck! Where is Pip!?"

Ahhh, Widow's voice...still sounded as pissy as ever over my helmet's comms...

"I'm sure he's making his way to us now!"

Ghost, too! Sounds as unafraid and jovial as when I last left him!

In fact, I could see both of them ahead, trapped and pinned down behind a pile of Covey storage crates with a hail of plasma and spikes barraging their cover like a hurricane.

I tapped my communications on and, with as much joy as I could muster, shouted, "Hey jerks, mind if I kill 'em all for ya?"

My two old friends turned their head my direction, momentarily forgetting their current predicament. I swear I could see their faces through the helmets...dumbstruck!

"D...Diana!?" Widow shouted.

Ghost jabbed his sister's shoulder, laughing, "Not quite!"

I looked past them, at the force of Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals which tried to prevent us from completing...uh, whatever mission we were doing. Hey, I just woke up, bleeding practically everywhere and feeling sore all over. I didn't really know what we were doing, so I just decided that...

Every, single, last one of them...

Would...

BURN.

And THAT was MY mission.

"No...no way..."

I slid into cover beside Widow, fixing my helmet back on as I checked over my pistol again, then did the same for my SMG.

"On my mark, unload everything so I can get by, hmm?" I asked absentmindedly, "I'll handle the rest."

"You...what?"

Widow still couldn't grasp it...it was so entertaining!

"Three...tw-GO!"

I skipped two and one because...well, fuck them! Then vaulted over the cover, snatching Widow's shotgun off her back and latching it to mine. My two comrades shot out of either side of the cover, firmly planting their feet and barraging the blockade of Coveys with both Assault rifle and Battle Rifle, momentarily forcing all unlucky enough to not react in time to become Swiss cheese, and the rest to hide until my friends' clip-counters hit zero.

And again...everything slowed down...to a crawl, to a speed a turtle would laugh at...my heart beat loud and my eyes darted like flies. I saw everything; nothing was allowed to escape my eyes, and soon, my wrath.

I was back...

My hooves planted the floor, pistol primed in my right hoof and SMG in my left, then dashed straight down the center of the blockade...

The crimson bitch was back...

After clearing the entire force and entering an exit hallway I dropped the two grenade pins from my maw and grinned like a maniac. Of course, I burst out in open laughter as a resounding explosion cleared out the entire blockade.

"ARTEMIS IS BACK!"

I came to a halt beside Widow and Ghost, asking them where she had gone. They simply answered.

"To kill everything."

I shook my head, chuckling slightly. It was really her, alright...and she was probably going to need a bit of aid to get her out of whatever mess she was causing.

"Ge' another ship." I demanded, "I'll ge'...Ar'emis back."

My comrades nodded and exited through a separate corridor to commandeer a Covey ship to escape on while I followed the path of devastation left behind by my good ol' little psycho.

Our team was whole again.

Oh I love this. I've said it before and I'll say it again...I LOVE THIS!

"You're just ganna walk in there casually, aren't you?"

Diana stood beside me again, smirking as I reloaded both of my weapons.

"Of course."

She shook her head, "You know, that bubbly attitude of yours can only be attributed to Him."

I paused, giving Diana a curious stare, "Wait, you and Zarius talked?"

"Hey, just because we live in your head doesn't me we tell you everything." she explained, "Lara is getting a bit antsy as well, so you'd better prepare for a heat wave soon, if you know what I mean."

I laughed, clipping both my pistol and SMG to their respective thighs, then checked to make sure the shotgun was still there, "Five personalities, one body...Celestia am I one bucked-up chick."

"I mean, you have been holding a conversation with yourself for the past ten minutes. Of course you are."

I turned my head to find Diana gone. Shrugging, I tapped through the personalized menu within the HUD.

"Yes! She transferred all my music!" I quickly scrolled through it all, the song I desired already in mind, "Time for a little nod to my favorite Freelancer..."

The doors slid open to reveal the control deck of the Corvette as the hard rock music began to kick in with drums.

'I am going to bring all of them to their knees.' I thought with a grin, sauntering into the midst of a couple hundred suddenly alert Covey. Each one hastily whipped out their respective rifles, pistols, blades, shields, or, in the case of the Ship Master, hammer and turned their gazes towards me, eyes narrowed and filled with a burning passion to crush me.

"You guys shoulda' stayed home today." I shouted, shrugging.

"What do you think you are?" the Ship Master, a formidably large Brute clad in pale white Chieftain Armor, "A demon?" he bellowed a laugh, mocking my bravado.

I laughed with him.

"Actually...heh, I think I'm worse." I replied.

Without skipping a beat I quickly zipped to the side, avoiding the rain of fire by hiding beside a curved pillar. First I waited until the very instant every bullet ceased, then I dove out to the right, taking advantage of the Jackal (and his energy shield) which was nearby by grabbing the little thing and slamming it's head into the wall. With the Jackal dead, and the wall dented, I slipped it's wrist shield off and reactivated it, repelling the next storm of fire. Of course, this would only last for a moment before the shield died, so I utilized my free time to stick my hoof out, pistol at the ready, and fired a few shots at a group of Grunts.

Four bullets, four skulls.

"Pop!-YAY!"

With the others either reloading or stunned from their comrade's sudden deaths, I reared back my other hoof and pitched the shield at a Brute near the center of the crowd, then sprinted after it. Some avoided it, others were knocked out of the way by it, and I decapitated a Grunt before the shield finally reached my intended target, a clear beeline straight to him.

The Brute Minor was knocked somewhat off his feet while I dashed through the parted crowd, scooping up a Sticky on my way. Unfortunately for him, the moment his feet were planted back on the ground, my rear hooves were planted right on his face! Transferring forwards momentum into upwards, I jumped high into the air above the Brute—who, I might add, had a bleeding nose—,aiming down and firing a few, shoddy shots around below me. They didn't hit anything, but their purpose was to disorient, not damage.

"Graaah! Where did it go!?"

Poor fool.

I dropped to the ground behind him, knife replacing the Pistol (which was already in my mouth, of corse). Quickly, I slammed the blade deep into the Brute's back, then I swiped his feet out and lifted him over my shoulders, ripping the blade down and out before grasping his nearest foot and swinging him in a wide arc.

"Catch!"

Letting go, I stumbled backwards a bit as the corpse soared through the air, cracking the the window through which showed me some nearby planet which I couldn't recognize at the time. I huffed, grinning at my handy work while I slipped the knife back into it's sheath so I could pick my Pistol back up...THEN a blue explosion from underneath the dead Brute vaporized it's corpse.

"Whoops, shoulda kept my mouth shut." I confessed sheepishly, taking the moment to catch my breath while the rest of the Covey looked at me in shock. Once I was well and satisfied by their fearful faces, I shrugged then flipped out both my Pistol and SMG, "Now let's tango."

I followed the trail of blood which she left behind. Unfortunately, knowing about her current "skin condition," it was clear that she'd pass-out from blood-loss somewhat soon. I had to find her and reel her in before she dropped in the middle of a firefight!

I suddenly looked up at the sound of a deep, gravelly and foreign voice, obviously a Brute's. He turned a corner, stumbling somewhat, and turned his back to mine, probably wondering what caused all the damage. I didn't want waste time, nor give any indication I was heading this way, so I had to quickly put this ape down before he noticed me. As I neared him he heard my hoof falls and abruptly turned, but it was too late by then. I hopped, hooking my right forehoof and clotheslining the Brute, then forced him to his back by slamming the back of his head to the floor. Immediately after, I flipped backwards onto it's chest and plunged my knife into it's neck. He burgled for a few moments, blood pouring from his mouth and neck, before I pulled my knife back out.

I didn't waste time in mourning his death. Not like he'd do the same for me anyway. Artemis was ahead, and we were running out of time...she either forgot what this mission actually was, or she just didn't care. Either way, we'd be space rubble in about ten more minutes if we didn't get off the ship. This thought in mind, I soon came upon a set of doors, dented and slightly ajar. They had become stuck and wouldn't open because of those dents, it seemed, and I would have to break them down to get in. I was about to do just that when I looked down and noticed a small, but substantial pool of blood, then hoof prints stemming from it into the room ahead...Artemis was in there all right, and was continuing to ignore her bleeding...

She is such an idiot sometimes...

Shaking my head, I started to pull back a punch aimed at the right, stuttering door, but it was suddenly ripped out directly in front of me, followed quickly by the the left...

Then I was sucked through after that.

Earlier...

"Psssh, not even sweating!"

I walked away from the pile of fresh corpses, grinning and satisfied by my hoofiwork. Then I noticed the blood leaking from almost every joint in my armor.

"Err...unless I sweat blood...which I cannot remember ever doing before..." I waved my hooves around and shook the top portion of my body, splattering a bit around me, "Gross...but cool...and very bad..."

"Enough!"

I snapped my head back up and found the apparent Shipmaster snarling at me, he eyes clearly filled with seething anger, "Your time has come, Demon! Prepare to die!"

I waved him off, laughing and gesturing to his dead crew mates, "Did you SEE what I did to all of them? I wasn't even trying!"

He sneered, "I am no mere Grunt, weakling! Nor am I any normal Shipmaster!" With growing interest, I watched as the armor around the already large Brute began to spark and glow.

"A project finished a while back by our now decommissioned Factory of the Prophet chose ME as the sole bearer of the first Armor which triumphs above even those of you and your Demons!" he proudly proclaimed.

His entire body suddenly jolted and puffed-up almost like a ballon, except when he deflated, his muscles were at least six times larger and his body in general was just bigger.

It was like some cartoon show I saw...except he didn't scream like he was constipated.

"Well...I bet you're a lot powerful now..." I pointed out with a nod. Without speaking, the Monster reached behind him and pulled out another Gravity hammer in response, "You gatta be slower, though."

Those words were quickly shoved down my throat as, in the blink of an eye, he zipped across half the room and was already inches away from flattening me with both hammers before I reacted.

"Fuck!" I hopped and pulled my rear hooves up, the collision between the hammers and their resulting energy burst—jarring my teeth—flipped me pretty high into the air, "How does that even make SENSE!?"

I put a hoof to my chin, trying to recount everything I knew of mass, energy, and inertia. Hell, the way I fought all relied on momentum and Physics, so I figured I should be confident in my guesses about my enemy's agility.

This guy pretty much blew everything I knew away like a first-class slut...I mean vacuum. Excuse me, hehe...

"Cower in fear, fool!"

The Brute slammed the hammers against the ground, roaring in rage, then pitched the left hammer up at me at an unimaginable speed. Needless to say, I took the thing to my gut and was propelled high enough to slam against the ceiling. I grunted, spitting out a bit of blood onto my HUD, then began to fall back to the floor, tumbling through the air slightly.

"That...really hurt..." I huffed out, "...I missed this...so much..."

The pistol I dropped floated before me while I fell—I had dropped it on the way up, you see—, so I snatched it out of the air and pulled the SMG back out. The Super Brute was preparing to slam me out of the air with his other hammer, but he forgot about the one he already discarded.

"If I'm the fool..." I shouted, landing on the hammer which had hit me earlier, "Then what does that make you?"

I kicked the shaft of the hammer down and sent it into a spin centered at it's head, then spun myself so as to catch the shaft in my maw. I continued to spin, nearing the ground quickly, with the intention to intercept the oncoming attack from the other hammer. Crossed my "fingers" on this one, as you humans would say.

I let go, the inertia of the throw momentarily stopping my body in mid air while the hammer rocketed towards the Brute. I actually hadn't hit his hammer as indented, and his hammer hadn't hit me; instead, my hammer hit HIM and his hit nothing! He grunted loudly and was knocked off his feet from the resulting gravity burst, and while he started to stand back up, I landed on my hooves feeling accomplished, and lucky, with two fully loaded sidearms ready to riddle him like Swiss cheese.

"Knocked you off your feet, I did." I laughed a mocking, snickering laugh, "Probably my good looks."

Without wasting any more time, I dashed at my still stumbling opponent, firing shot after shot from my Pistol, and burst after burst from my SMG. While he appeared to take little notice of the bullets, he still bled from various spots, so I knew I was still doing damage.

"Lucky shot, nothing else!"

He roared again, then went for a low swipe from the hammer. Since I knew of his speed, I hopped and flipped over it, sliding to a stop behind the behemoth.

"Sluggish!" I mocked, reloading both weapons casually, before bending forewords and dodging another swipe, "Getting very messy from your rage!" He rose the hammer high only to swiftly bring it down upon my location. I anticipated this, though, and dove backwards between his legs, my weapons fully loaded, to come sliding to a stop again behind him, his back fully exposed to me.

"You have to learn to retain your capabilities..." I schooled the idiot on fighting, sprinting up and kicking above him off his back, firing bullet after bullet from both guns into his spine, "and instead of working AGAINST your rage..."

He tried to roar again, but only emitted a weak groan, as he twisted around to face me, only to find I was not there.

"You must work WITH..." I abandoned both sidearms and unclipped the shotgun from the gravity lock on my back, ready to finish this fight. Landing on his bloody back, he screamed in rage and agony, then fear as the sound of my shotgun pumping hit his ears, "your rage!"

I blasted a single burst into his back, sending him to the floor, face first. I snorted, stepping off him and rehilting my shotgun, "I'm not even the toughest Spartan out there. I'm just the scariest."

"You...f-fool..."

I stopped in my tracks, then turned sharply to find the Brute slowly standing back up, though his blood loss was very apparent and severe.

Of course...so was mine...

It was then that I started to feel a sense of weakness, my head feeling light and the edges of my vision blurring. I needed to get help soon, or I would just drop there!

"Always be sure you have finished what you started..."

I eyed the gravity hammer by my feet, then the cracked window leading to space. I really didn't have much of an option, seeing as this big guy wouldn't go down as easily as I thought.

"You're tough, I'll give you that, but you lack something." I explained, hefting the hammer into my hooves.

He was finally fully erect, glaring me down, "Oh, and what would that be?"

I reared back then beamed the hammer at him like a spear, which he easily dodged, "Oh, just something simple..." I added.

"You missed!"

The hammer collided with the cracked window, spreading the spider-web design to an area of very dangerous proportions...yet it continued to grow, quickly zipping it's way across the entire window. I saluted to the naïve fool then dashed for the exit as fast as I could. Not wanting to be around when the window broke. Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw the Brute do the same for the window, then I refocused my attention on getting the buck out of there!

"Oh no...oh NOOOO!"

First was his screaming, then, realizing that I wouldn't make it in time, I lunged and attempted to grab onto a control panel ahead of me, but the window shattered in mid jump and I was immediately sucked back.

The sound of air being forced out of the room so quickly was very...odd, to say the least. In fact, the rush was so quick that I felt some of the air in my own lungs become knocked out before the suit entered it's vacuum protection mode and provided me with air from a ready oxygen supply.

I tumbled quite a distance backwards before landing on my face, where I scrambled to grab anything I could to prevent me from being thrown into space along with the roid-rage Brute. Finding nothing, I desperately slammed a hoof into the metal floor as hard as I could, managing to somewhat dig into the ground and crop-up some sparks. Unfortunately, the suction was too powerful and, along with the aid of my friction-reducing, blood-soaked everything, I was quickly pulled towards the window yet again, emergency lights flaring everywhere around the room in bright, annoying red.

"Well fuck! That wasn't the best idea, now was it?" I flipped over and saw the window quickly approaching as everything not connected to the floor, walls, or ceiling flew out into space violently. My eyes darted around everywhere for anything that could help my situation, but nothing seemed near enough for me to grab onto.

"Hope I have a lot of oxygen..." I muttered, grinning awkwardly to myself, thinking I was out of luck.

Then it happened; then he arrived! Something about the same size as me, if not slightly bigger, zipped by, then suddenly produced jets of flame from behind it, slowing to a stop before me.

"...why don't I have one of those!?" I shouted, laughing.

My savior slammed his hooves into the floor like I tried earlier, except he actually managed to stick in. When I passed by I grasped onto his right forehoof, then pulled myself up and held on tightly around his neck.

"Ya id'ot." was all he said before lunging forwards, kicking his jetpack into overdrive and beginning our push back towards the exit.

I only held on tight, allowing my comrade to bring us out if the hellstorm around us. It seemed we were doing very well, about to make it, when the both of us received a long distance transmission from good ol' Widow.

"Guys! You have about ten seconds before the whole ship goes to shit!"

I responded quickly, clear confusion present, "What? It already is! We're being sucked into Space as we speak! What else could be so bad?"

"The bomb."

I looked up at Pip and saw his eyes darkly grim through his visor. We stopped running, turning to find that the emergency doors had closed-up and stopped the suction of space, but still, I had the feeling that things were about to get A LOT worse than what they just were.

"We...better run, huh?" I asked coyly.

As if in ironic answer, a sudden booming and thudding noise hit our ears as a tremor surged through the entire ship, knocking us to our flanks. Without wasting any time, we both scrambled back up as Widow yelled over our comms again.

"Follow this beacon! We'll try to catch you here!"

Small sparks of electricity and neon flame burst from practically everywhere through the ship as it started to all collapse or separate from itself. Pip and I started a mad-dash for the indicated beacon, a daunting amount of meters away.

"Just like old times, huh?" I asked, managing a laugh as I passed Pip.

"Jus' run!" he yelled back, taking the lead ahead of me.

I did as I was told and ran, stumbling through any burst of flame or metal that would occasionally blast in front of us. It was clear that chunks were being ripped off the ship, the noises told us that, but we weren't sure if the deconstruction would impede us...until we saw for ourselves the action is motion.

"Oh buck, this will be interesting!" the fissure before us was immense, but not unbridgeable. Debris and chunks of the ship allowed clear paths to the other side, plus, Pip still had his Jetpack available.

"Let's go!" He grabbed my hoof and quickly launched us into the Space between the two parts, the flares behind us hot and powerful.

Of course—just my luck—an explosion from above sent a chunk of metal screaming towards us. We had no time to move and ended up being knocked away from eachother, colliding with different platforms of falling wreckage.

"Buck! Keep going! I'll catch up!"

Pip seemed like he was about to ignore my demand, preparing to lunge towards me, but a passing barrage of twisted metal kept him in place.

"Go, damnit!"

He nodded and jumped, boosting himself to another platform with his Jetpack. I grinned, shaking my body out as I planned my escape.

"Who needs Jetpacks?"

I readied myself quickly then sprinted to the edge of my crumbling piece of metal, jumping and planting all hooves on a spinning piece ahead. The spinning then propelled me forwards, onto another hunk of wreckage, where I slid across as it slowly rotated sideways.

"This is the shit I LIVE for!"

Once I reached the edge of that piece, I hopped off and soared through the empty space some ways before landing on an outstretched platform connected to the other end; connected to our destination. Tumbling to my hooves, I made a dead sprint for the more stable ship interior while the beam I ran on quickly started to collapse behind me.

"Ar'emis! O'er 'ere!"

Pip screamed over my comms, catching my attention to the right. There, rocketing through a maelstrom of debris and fire with some very intricate maneuvering, was my partner. I couldn't help but grin like a maniac, admiring the skill and honor my little protégé gained in my absence.

"C'mon guys! Our end is getting a little hot! Can't stay much longer!"

I stumbled over a sudden drop from my floor, returning my own demand to Widow, "Shut up! How do you think it's like for us out here!?"

Righting myself back up, I quickly jumped and began to hop off the debris around me, slowly pushing my way back up. It wasn't fast enough, though, and it was clear that I needed a bit of help of I was to make it out. Still, I continued to try. I wasn't dead yet—somehow—so an exploding Corvette sure as hell wasn't going to be MY downfall!

Desperation in mind, I took my last grenade and slammed it into the metal beside me, then counted down until the moment came...then I jumped.

Fire, metal, and pain was all I felt and remembered, the sense of falling towards the sky—you could say—was very...different. Not like the Orbital Drop at the beginning of the Rainbow Factory mission, but more...actually, peaceful. As if I was floating, instead.

Or...

Maybe I was just so out of it from the blood loss and exhaustion that I felt high...yeah, that's probably it.

When I came to and the ringing started to fade, Pip snatched me out of the midst of another hail of twisted metal and we propelled into the exploding hallway which led towards our awaiting escape.

"We gatta go, guys! We can't wait any longer! Try to thread yourselves in!"

"Widow!" I shouted, blue flame licking across my vision momentarily, "That, is DEFINATELY..." A walkway from above landed in out path, so Pip, having no choice, burst straight through it, sending bits of metal and debris scattering around us while we continued to spear forwards, "what SHE..."

Pip had been knocked out by the impact, letting go of me and deactivating the Jetpack, so I hastily grasped onto him tightly, pulling him close to my body as the two of us managed to slam into the wall inside our escape ship: A Space-augmented Phantom which Widow commandeered.

As every quickly started to fade out, my back now aching from hitting that wall, I huffed out the last word I needed to say to Widow.

"said..."

Several days later...

"So...anything you need to know? Or can I enjoy this rejuvenating bath in peace now?"

Artemis, soaking her ruined skin and coat in a special, magically enhanced bath, peered at an agent of Halsey's which had arrived to interview her about the attack on the Corvette and her...reawakening.

"I believe this should be fine...but I have one question." the human stated, standing and preparing to leave, "These...split personalities you have—Diana—whom we've met—, Lara, Zarius, and another which you haven't named—what do they mean? How long have they been there?"

Artemis shrugged, sinking low until her muzzle was barely above the water, "How long? I can't remember...what do they mean?...well, basically, they each make-up different extremes in my own personality. They take what defines me and exaggerate it." she paused, blowing a few bubbles in the bath, "Diana is my...volatility, and Zarius is my endearment of activity and comradery. Lara is my...well, love of the sensual, and the last, Raven, is my love of weapons..."

The agent nodded, starting to walk out, "We will look into this later, you know. But for now, get well soon."

"I'm sure they'll each poke their respective noses at Halsey, anyway." Artemis called back, "Diana already has, and she hates the woman about as much as I do."

The agent paused, but continued on quickly without a single word. The tired, battle weary mare then slowly sank under the water entirely, bubbles slowly popping on the surface...

"WHOOOOA..." Artemis shot up out of the water, breathing heavily as she sprayed the bath all around her, "Forgot I had to breath..."

Truly, she was back.

Hidden Audio-Log: Diana (1)

Artemis flopped onto her bed, tired and still somewhat sore. The treatment in the bath was only one of four sessions, but her coat and skin was already on it's way back to what it used to be. Her mane was even just starting to cover her eyes how she liked it again.

"...the hell? What's this lump?" The ebony mare felt under her cruddy mattress to find a audio-recorder with the label "Diana's Dumb message to You."

Curiosity getting the better of her, Artemis grinned devilishly and started the recording, "Interesting..."

Audio-log, day number who gives a fuck.

Soooo...I think I'm going to rend my eyes out and rip my ears off if I'm forced to suffer through this much longer. I see them all, yet they don't, at least I think they don't, see me. I've been hacking into Halsey's databases and deleting files secretly and in small chunks lately. As of day one of all this, I've gotten rid of any prior Crimson Team existence, removed all of the data on miss sleepy head, and...altered a few of the bitch's personal secret info. Celestia am I glad that I managed to swipe Ghost's notes about hacking. Though, he was planning to get it published into a book, if I do recall...Eh, he'll write more, I'm sure.

Gah...these burns...never going to heal. I swear, I actually probably wouldn't be hiding myself so much if it wasn't for the burns! I'm more self conceous about my physical appearance than she was. My emotional and personal appearance? Pfft, only one pony knew what THAT was like...maybe two...but I can never see one of them again, and the other, well...he's...damnit. DAMN the other! He-he-he just KNEW mentioning Her would tick me. At least, I think he knew...I think he knows there's a connection between her and I, though. I just hope he doesn't connect the dots...

...yet.

The party starts soon. I admit, I want, with a burning, searing passion, nothing more than to just show up and rage until I drop, but...I know I'll slip-up. I'll go overboard...I'll blow it too soon...

Heh, that's what she said...

And Discordia! Oh BOY her voice is just OOOHH so...so...ahhhhhhgggg...I thought when she was male the voice was amazing, but as a female...just...just YES. I swear, I want her to use that magic of hers to...to-to simply RAVAGE me! UGH! All this sexual frustration from still being a virgin! THIS DOES NOT FEEL GOOD! Probably because She never got the chance to giver Her a try...she probably would have said no, of course, but at least I would have felt a bit better!

...what the hell am I doing? Oh right! Trying to ignore the raging party which is starting! Oh, Vinyl, please, please, PLEASE don't abide by your normal standards and keep the volume LOW this time!...aaaaand thus starts the immense thumping from her bassline...fuck...

Oh LOOK! I'm TAPPING MY HOOF! Fuckit! I'm turning the lights off and dancing around my rebuilt room all by my...self...

I hate Diana. Lovely person, but she's too antisocial. Artemis, though, at least others liked her enough to play along with her games from time to time!...

OMIGOSH! I love this song! Uhh-er...end audio log!

Wait! Here, take another riddle, just cuz they are oh so deliciously fun.

"If I were the nerdy pony, Twist, these thorny bushes wouldn't be sticker, they'd be _______."

Later fuckers!

/bleep/

Epilogue AKA It's never Over.

Halsey sat in her chair, staring at the new set of notes she finally got motivated to restart since their...hacking.

"So Artemis is back..." She scoffed, turning her chair in a three-sixty spin, "Well, she technically never left."

Halsey looked at the old bio for Subject-013, which she finished reconstructing from memory, due to it's recent deletion. After receiving the report about Artemis's reawakening and...poly-persona predicament, the scientist decided that maybe the entirety of Crimson Team's bio needed to be reevaluated...

"Let's see here..." Halsey cracked her knuckles then went to the keyboard, her fingers flitting across the tabs like lighting as edits, deletions, and replacements filtered from her mind to the screen. The tacking almost sounded like a musical symphony...except not really.

Once her conducting—so to say—was done, Halsey looked her work over, satisfied, "I really should try to get on their good sides, sometime. I want Zarius or Raven out of her next time, rather than Diana."

//Initiate Team Bios//

//...recovering info...

...acquired//

Name- Crimson Team.

Members- Four to Eight
~Composed of-
-Commander- Rayna "Widow" Smith. Human Female ODST.
-SIC- Artemis "Wolfie" Crimson. Mare Spartan-IV.

•Sub Personas

~Diana- Antisocial Stealth Ops.

~Zarius- Kindly Scout Ops.

~Laura- Sensual Escape Artist.

~Raven- Mischevious Weapons Specialist.
-Communicationist- Ryan "Ghost" Smith. Human Male ODST.
-Brute Force/Heavy Weapons Specialist- Pipsqueak "Squirt" Crimson. Colt Spartan-IV.

-Team Background~
The name "Crimson" stems from the members' unfortunate run-ins with morbid and bloody situations. While every soldier encounters the harshness of war, the members of this team all have the prerequisite of leaving some of the worst and mind-breaking events with a stable enough mind to still function...more or less. The Team, with their inhuman and inpony-like state of mind towards morbid situations, are usually sent on sweep or post-massacre missions to sift, quite literally, through the remains of battles and attacks for any survivors or salvageable items. They also specialize, and generally volunteer for, being distractions and "bullet sponges" for the primary team to better accomplish their own missions. This is the team that undertakes missions no one else would ever want to...I guess you could call them our "Bad Company."

The raw inspiration for the team's name comes from its's Second in Command, Artemis. This...disturbed pony was found amidst a complete massacre of covenant, human, and pony soldiers and civilians. While it has never been determined if the casualties on all sides were caused by her, it is prominently clear that she was responsible for the barely recognizable remains of each an every Covenant soldier. There were also reports of signs of some of the corpses being partially devoured by what would best be described as a wolf. In the end, the young mare was taken into the Spartan-IV program with immense interest.

Upon being told she would be fighting against the covenant with technological aid from the UNSC, Artemis' response was as follows, "So you mean I'm allowed to kill them all?"

Later, after the supposed death of Artemis on the catastrophic Rainbow Factory Mission, a prolonged encounter with the persona Diana occurred with members of Crimson Team and other upper-class officials. It was later confessed by Artemis herself, who was actually Diana, that she suffers from split personalities, which have the capability to take command of Artemis's body when she herself is mentally weak. So far, only Diana has "escaped," but, supposedly being the worst of the other personas, these personalities appear to not desire any hindrances on the UNSC, ONI, or Artemis...
Still, an eye must always be on Artemis and her...personas.

//Subject Files...searching...

...acquired//

--/Rayna Smith AKA "Widow."

Rayna found herself stuck with the name "Widow" for the sole reason that she could not hold down a lover for more than three days. It's not that they broke up, no, but instead for the reason that each boy friend or fiancé would end up dead. Her first, soon to be husband, in fact, was killed while attempting to salvage Equis. Months later, her new boyfriend went MIA on a routine check-up trip where studies on the highly classified and quarantined artifact, The Marker, WERE taking place. Shortly after that, her third boyfriend committed suicide for unknown reasons. Lastly, she attempted to kindle relations with a Stallion, which ended in disaster as she watched him become crushed underneath the feet of a Scarab. She has become a cold, heartless woman because of this, which, I am sad to say, used to make her a very capable soldier.

Fortunately, times have changed, and the coldhearted woman has become more of a likable lady, when not in combat, that is. Probably thanks to the "lessons" Artemis has brought her through playful interactions, Widow moved back into a more healthy state of mind and appears to again desire to find someone to love. Due to her recent, very well activity in the field, this appears to have made her a stronger person, and better soldier.

She specializes in Vehicle Warfare, mastering the controls of every vehicle under both our own, and Covenant command. She even piloted the very Scarab which killed her last boyfr-er, coltfriend and wreaked havoc upon Covenant forces.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- Standard issue Magnum and Pump action Shotgun. Standard issue Combat Knife.\

--/Artemis Crimson AKA "Wolfie"

Artemis, already supposedly possessing the name Crimson, acquired her name "Wolfie" from the abnormal teeth she possesses. Unlike any other pony, Artemis has teeth of which resemble a wolf more than a pony, thus, the name "Wolfie." Of course, her killer instincts of which she possessed even before entering the Spartan-IV program, along with her signature "Next Meal" stare, added to the fittingess of the nickname. Miss Crimson, unfortunately, shows very clear signs of mental disturbance and outright insanity, especially for her odd craving of raw meat, while most ponies prior to their inclusion in the war had never even tasted meat. On top of this, she has also had multiple outbursts of sheer rage and fury, harming many. Though these "outbursts" are seemingly uncontrollable, she has mastered the ability to "direct" them at enemy forces. I have seen the outcome of one of these flares firsthand...it's completely terrifying...yet very effective and useful...but through all this, she is actually quite a chivalrous mare, being no where near as cold as Widow...that is, when she's not terrorizing the other soldiers or molesting the...well, anyone. Her preferences don't seem to point to one specific gender, or species for that matter, when it comes to her..."games."

Artemis is one hell of a combatant. Specializing in CQC and excelling in flexible and agile movement and thinking, she can, and HAS taken down a pair of Hunters without even picking up a weapon. She is a master of adaption, able to compensate any unfortunate situation into one that will work into her favor using her quick speed and on-her-hooves thinking. Then, when she is not fully in control of her mental processes while in one of her outbursts, she disregards all caution or inhibitions, throwing more than seemingly possible into decimating, mutilating, and just plain tearing to shreds anything, and EVERYTHING she wants. She appears to have completely gained control of her rage and has learned to work with, instead of behind, her outbursts. As a side note, while she is a specialist at close range combat, she is also, like every Spartan, capable of using anything that can be considered a weapon with great mastery. Though she specializes in daggers, Energy Swords, pistols, shotguns, SMGs, BRs (though she prefers the the old type, DMR for some reason), and, unlike the rest, the Sniper. Another oddity of this mare is the fact that she is usually found standing on just her rear legs instead of all fours, unlike most other ponies do when not in a combat situation. Adding upon this is her apparent master of hand to hand combat...even though she possesses no hands.

Newly acquired intel about her mental disorder has discovered that, along with her control of the rage within her, she has apparent dominance over the other personas within her. She claims to be able to allow when and how long the other personas are allowed to take control, but has shown no evidence of this. Still, this could be a very interesting and informative experiment to watch and test.

Preferred Weapons Set-up- Standard Issue Pistol, Standard Issue SMG, her own custom (and admittedly, out-of-regulation) Sniper Rifle, and two Energy Swords. Standard issue combat knife. She also recently came into possession of a prototype Energy Sword of unknown origin (yet) which gathers energy from light, friction, and anything else it can naturally to recharge itself. This weapon is also able to produce an energy burst of similar effect to an EMP blast, though every action costs much of the weapon's energy. Still, the recharge accommodates this fact. The energy produced is also crimson in color. She has nicknamed the device "Thánatos."

**Side note— Let it be noted that research has been cancelled for the finding of ways to officially control her mind.

It has been determined that this is an impossible feat.

--/Ryan Smith AKA "Ghost"

He acquired the nickname "Ghost" for multiple reasons, some, more morbid than others. For one, the previous holder of the title "Ghost" died preventing a Covenant armada from capturing prototype technology...even though he did so by destroying the entire facility...so, the name was, I guess, open for grabs...although it's not really a name one wants. Ryan took the name Ghost because of his apparent lack of the ability to feel. Whether this is a nervous disorder, or he is just very good at hiding feelings of pain, remorse, or fear, I cannot say, as he has never actually been tested for such disorders. While he is not emotionless, much like his sister (see: "Widow"), always showing the signs of a jokester and comedian, he is unfazed by scenes of death and horror...more reasons for his nickname is his "secret" for concealing his comms. stations, as well as scrambling any radar. As the communications controller for his Team, he perfected the act of quick and stealthy communication. None of his signals nor tech has been traced or captured unless he wanted it to...in fact, I think he hacked into the conversation I once had with Twilight...I ignored it, as I had no proof, and I actually admired him for doing so. Lastly, he's made both highly exceptional and very effective camo and hologram tech for his entire Team. Of course, he reserved only the best for himself, making him TRUELY an untraceable Ghost.

While combat isn't his forte, he is still an able soldier, like all ODSTs, yet he prefers to run recon. He will usually be manning a recon drone, or scanning the visuals through his entire team's headsets and vitals. I think he even hacked a nearby satellite to scan the area for his team, WITHOUT regulation, I may add. And as a side note...I remember his mentioning of an underground program he discovered called the "Freelancer" project which used similar tech to the Spartan program...I will have to approach the UNSC board about the matter later, see if this might become a problem.

He also has heavily modified his augmented robotic arm to great extremes since losing his biological arm. No one but him knows what secrets are within that hunk of metal.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- Thermal and Scope Enhanced Sniper Rifle, Standard issue Pistol with optional silencer, Standard issue SMG with optional silencer, and Standard issue combat knife.\

--/ Pipsqueak AKA "Squirt"

The newest recruit obviously received the name "Squirt" for having the name Pipsqueak. He was added to this team after being responsible for the deaths of his ENTIRE SQUAD for revealing their position after speaking up in a stealth situation. Somehow managing to be the single survivor, he has since spoken almost not one single word...funny, most new recruits tend to be this way, according to accounts received from Dare and Buck with their own Rookie.

As his experiences with the Crimson team have went on—mainly his experiences with Artemis in particular—Pip has become somewhat of a protégé to the mare, having become adept in battling with momentum and CQC. Though he lacks in the agility and stability aspects, he accommodates for this by containing an extreme amount of brute force, pushing his limits just as far as Artemis can, if not further. He specializes is the application of his strength and the mastery of heavy and explosive weaponry.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- In heavy skirmishes: Rocket Launcher and as many cases of extra pods as possible, extra grenades, a Grenade Launcher, and mobile Heavy Machine Gun. In squad-based operations, two Magnums and a standard Shotgun as well as a heavy Combat Knife.

This is Crimson Team, and they are currently active and willing to fight.

The End. The Beginning

Crimson.

"Rookie! Celestia damnit!"

My ears rang, my vision was blurry, my head ached, and my entire body was sore...I was beginning to again question why I agreed to sign-up with this whole "Spartan-IV" program again...all it had brought me was pain. From day one in training, up until the moment where I would die. Just...pain.

"You idiot!"

I had been shouted at by drill sergeants. I had been shouted at by commanders. I had been shouted at by a court marshal. I had been shouted at by those damn Covenant...and I had been shouted at by HER. That's all she did, was shout at me...even while I was dying, just more shouting.

"You bucking IDIOT!"

I wished the ringing would completely block all sound...so I could just stop hearing her voice. I had had enough of her voice at that point. It just represented everything I hated!

"I swear...! I told you not to...! BUCK!"

My helmet was off, and all I could see were her glowering crimson eyes as she leaned over me. Why did she take her helmet off?...

"Tell me, Rookie..." she growled, speaking quieter than before, "Who is your favorite Princess?"

With that, she stood up, on only her back legs in that odd way she likes to, and looked away from me, a combat knife in hoof.

"Oh buck it."

She shook her head, placing a hoof over her face for a few seconds before looking down at me again...

"Go tell your 'favorite princess' that I thought she was hot for me, hmm?"

I saw her eyes again. They were completely and totally deranged. And her sharp-toothed smile only made the feeling of dread it gave off worse. She was losing her composure again...I almost felt bad for whoever it was directed towards. It was actually kind of fitting: Her standing there, that look in her crimson eyes, her equally crimson mane splayed around her face randomly...her battered and dented armor covered in blood...some of her own blood trickling down from a cut next to her right ear...all the while, bullets, spikes, plasma, and banshees zipping by in the back. I would have laughed at her statement anyway, though, if it wasn't for the fact that I was about to pass-out from blood-loss...I was beginning go recall why we were called Crimson Team at that moment.

//Initiate Team Bios//

//...recovering info...

...acquired//

Name- Crimson Team.

Members- Four
~Composed of-
-Commander: Rayna "Widow" Smith. Human Female ODST.
-SIC- Artemis "Wolfie" Crimson. Mare Spartan-IV.
-Communicationist- Ryan "Ghost" Smith. Human Male ODST.
-New Recruit- /.?&FI/<L4E/ERR$&&OR...\ "Rookie." Colt Spartan-IV.

-Team Background~
The name "Crimson" stems from the members' unfortunate run-ins with morbid and bloody situations. While every soldier encounters the harshness of war, the members of this team all have the prerequisite of leaving some of the worst and mind-breaking events with a stable enough mind to still function. The Team, with their inhuman and inpony-like state of mind towards morbid situations are usually sent on sweep or post-massacre missions to sift, quite literally, through the remains of battles and attacks for any survivors or salvageable items. This is the team that undertakes missions no one else would ever want to...I guess you could call them our "Bad Company."

Upon being told she would be fighting against the covenant with technological aid from the UNSC, Artemis' response was as follows, "So you mean I'm allowed to kill them all?"

//Subject Files...searching...

...acquired//

--/Rayna Smith AKA "Widow."

Preferred Weapon Set-up- Standard issue Magnum and SMG with optional silencers for both. Standard issue Combat Knife.\

--/Artemis Crimson AKA "Wolfie"

Artemis is one hell of a combatant. Specializing in CQC and excelling in flexible and agile movement and thinking, she can, and HAS taken down a pair of Hunters without even picking up a weapon. She is a master of adaption, able to compensate any unfortunate situation into one that will work into her favor using her quick speed and on-her-hooves thinking. Then, when she is not fully in control of her mental processes while in one of her outbursts, she disregards all caution or inhibitions, throwing more than seemingly possible into decimating, mutilating, and just plain tearing to shreds anything, and EVERYTHING she wants. We have taken precautions to include an "early warning" system in her armor to alert our own ranks of when to avoid her at ALL COSTS when in this state, as she is rendered incapable of discerning friend from foe when in the middle of her outbursts. As a side note, while she is a specialist at close range combat, she is also, like every Spartan, capable of using anything that can be considered a weapon with great mastery. Though she specializes in daggers, Energy Swords, pistols, shotguns, SMGs, BRs (though she prefers the the old type, DMR for some reason), and, unlike the rest, the Sniper. Another oddity of this mare is the fact that she is usually found standing on just her rear legs instead of all fours, unlike most other ponies do when not in a combat situation. Adding upon this is her apparent master of hand to hand combat...even though she possesses no hands.

Preferred Weapons Set-up- Standard Issue Pistol, Standard Issue SMG, her own custom (and admittedly, out-of-regulation) Sniper Rifle, and Energy Sword. Standard issue combat knife.

**Side note— Let it be noted that research is currently in place to find ways of allowing control over her outbursts. We are attempting to provide a means of which her armor can work WITH her crazed mind, instead of against it, as she always removes her helmet for a currently unknown reason when losing her composure.\

--/Ryan Smith AKA "Ghost"

He acquired the nickname "Ghost" for multiple reasons, some, more morbid than others. For one, the previous holder of the title "Ghost" died preventing a Covenant armada from capturing prototype technology...even though he did so by destroying the entire facility...so, the name was, I guess, open for grabs...although it's not really a name one wants. Ryan took the name Ghost because of his apparent lack of the ability to feel. Whether this is a nervous disorder, or he is just very good at hiding feelings of pain, remorse, or fear, I cannot say, as he has never actually been tested for such disorders. While he is not emotionless, much like his sister (see: "Widow"), always showing the signs of a jokester and comedian, he is unfazed by scenes of death and horror...more reasons for his nickname is his "secret" for concealing his comms. stations, as well as scrambling any radar. As the communications controller for his Team, he perfected the act of quick and stealthy communication. None of his signals nor tech has been traced or captured unless he wanted it to...in fact, I think he hacked into the conversation I last had with Twilight...I ignored it, as I had no proof, and I actually admired him for doing so. Lastly, he's made both highly exceptional and very effective camo and hologram tech for his entire Team. Of course, he reserved only the best for himself, making him TRUELY an untraceable Ghost.

Preferred Weapon Set-up- Thermal and Scope Enhanced Sniper Rifle, Standard issue Pistol with optional silencer, Standard issue SMG with optional silencer, and Standard issue combat knife.\

--/ E%ROR###& AKA "Rookie"

The new recruit, /ERR%O##&, obviously received the name "Rookie" for being the newest member to Crimson Team. He was added to this team after being responsible for the deaths of his ENTIRE SQUAD for revealing their position after speaking up in a stealth situation. Somehow managing to be the single survivor, he has since spoken almost not one single word...funny, most new recruits tend to be this way, according to accounts received from Dare and Buck with their own Rookie. As to what exactly this Rookie excels at, it is unclear. Only just finishing basic training, and only undertaking ONE (failed) mission, he has not been assessed fully yet. In fact, if it wasn't for the intervention of the entire Crimson Team, he would have been court marshaled for his mistake...instead they made him join a squad of demons and hell-hounds. I actually hope he doesn't become like them, we need a more stable-minded soldier among Crimson's ranks...

This report will remain incomplete until $&/RRO%%'s capabilities are further examined...

//...closing Bios...

...error...

Search1ng for s0lution...//

//\ALERT, FILES CORRUPT.\//

ERRORS FOUND...LEAK IN PROGRESS\

W4RN1N6!!! HACK 1N PR0_R3S5!!! TERM1NAT10N OF F1L3S R3QU1R3D!!!

--T3RM1N4T3?
--No
--Yes_

......................

...D3LET1_G...

D3LET1ON C0__L3hGdh$;$;)6lzkfbrpfæå
Dlflfldådpfkekwåwlfjgjfbfbsæwåqåwpwplwlwndnfbgngnglgæø................________________________________

...Years earlier...during the Fall of Equis...before the Spartan-IVs, before Crimson Team, before my death...there was just her. Alone, hiding amidst the rubble and corpse of her last connections to "sanity," while the Covenant prowled through the debris for any survivors, she sat. She sat huddled in the fetal position, trying to remain calm, trying desperately to retain her composure, to not reveal her position. This was probably the last time she was scared...she wasn't scared of dying, no...scared of losing it, losing HERSELF...but it was too late to prevent that, the Covenant had seen to that.

She huddled beside her deceased mother's charred corpse, blood trickling down her face from a cut made by a piece of debris hitting her upon the first attack. Her eyes were wide and dilated, darting around randomly while she whimpered and muttered quietly. She might have made it through the night like that if only the poor brute minor hadn't said one, single, sentence:

"Check behind that rubble for any survivors!"

Her body twitched, knowing full well that she would be found soon, but the shaking stopped, along with the incoherent muttering. As a couple brutes worked together to move the slab hiding her, the frown and scowl of fear slowly shifted to a grin, and her expression appeared to glow...in a demonic manner, of course. The brutes threw the block away, seeing the ebony mare standing on her back legs with her back to them.

They stared at her for a few moments, their brains starting to comprehend finding "fresh meat." Unfortunately for them, it wasn't HER that was going to be the fresh meat...

"Raw meat! I claim this one!" the brute on the right shouted, stepping closer to crush the small mare. She wasn't a young foal, but not quite a filly-grown mare, either...but looks can be deceiving!

As the large Brute towered over her, ready to break her spine with it'a powerful fists, something was clutched tight in her right hoof. As the ape-like soldier started to lower it's fists for the kill, the mare's body jolted alive and jumped up close, the attack missing. Upon landing, the mare sidestepped and spun, jabbing a shard of glass into the Brute's right eye, causing it to reel back in pain, shouting as half his vision went black while the other half went red.

"WAAAHHG! IT STABBED ME!" the brute cried in agony, it's partner beginning to reach for it's Spiker to fire at the surprisingly deadly mare.

She thought ahead, though, anticipating dealing with weapons. She dashed towards the wounded brute as the Spiker's pistons fired-up, the glowing yellow spikes lancing out at her and sticking into the walls and ground. The armed Brute, failing to pay attention, eventually riddled his partner with Spikes while he shot at the swift, ebony blur. He quickly ended the barrage as the severely wounded soldier fell to his face, gurgling sickeningly with a spike through it's neck. The remaining Brute cautiously approached the corpse, thinking that the mare had ended-up pinned underneath his dead companion. With the barrels aimed suspiciously at the cadaver, he started to nudge it over...but found nothing.

With his incompetent thinking, he suspected that the mare had escaped through a small hole in the rubble, so he holstered his Spiker and searched his dead partner for supplies. He suddenly jolted, though, as an intense and continuous pain rocketed from his thigh and foot while the sound of Spiker shots rang out. He was shoved over in pain to find that his entire right side, from the thigh down, was similar to that of a hedgehog and the ebony mare had taken his Spiker after firing it from in his holster.

For one of the first times in this Brute's life, he was scared. He had fought through humans, elites, Demons, and the Flood, never showing any signs of fear or inhibition...but this mare...the look in her, no...IT'S eyes as she raised the Spiker...she was the REAL demon.

"D...Gah...grrr" the Brute tried to shout for the other squad, but the pain was taking his breath and voice away, along with the fear, "Dem!....rreg, DEMON!"

The mare threw herself upon the Brute, proceding to bludgeon and mash it's chest and head with both the sharp and blunt end of the Spiker. The entire time, through the sounds of sickening mashes and squishes, one could hear the disturbing sound of steadily growing LAUGHTER.

A lone Skirmisher was sent in search of two Brute minors which had gone MIA and found it's way to the village it had helped decimate earlier. Sniffing, if caught the smell of fresh blood...and it was the blood of Brutes. Expecting the worst, it followed the scent trail until finding his way to a small enclosure of rubble where the mangled corpses of the two Brutes lay with the charred corpse of an adult mare in the back and a bloodied ebony mare, see ugly young, inside of a puddle of blood next to one of the Brutes.

The Skirmisher determined the cause of death for the first Brute to be from the spike through it's neck, while the other was from repeated blows from something sharp to the chest and head. The burnt mare was obviously killed by a fire, and the last pony...was a mystery. As he examined the body, he found only a minor cut to the forehead. Leaning in close to get a better look, the Skirmisher suddenly took a whiff of something out of place: The blood pooled around her wasn't hers, it didn't smell like the blood of ponies...it was the blood of BRUTES.

Without any notice, the supposedly dead ebony mare sprang up, head-butting the Skirmisher and sending it sprawling onto it's back with a sever headache. After shaking the stars out, though, the battle-hardened, agile creature, rolled backwards and evaded being impaled by a Spiker. It looked up with a snarl only to cut himself off with a whimper upon seeing the ponies crazed face. Whatever she was, he wanted no part in dealing with her anymore. Her eyes showed nothing but pure insanity and sadism.

The Skirmisher turned and dove out of the rubble, quickly regaining his bearings and heading, full speed, back to his squad's encampment. Looking over his shoulder, he found the ebony demon chasing him on all fours, TWO Spikers strapped to her sides from the Brutes' holsters. The Skirmisher could barely hold ONE of those things, yet this mare was GAINING on him! Plus, if she was the one responsible for the death of those two Brutes...the Skirmisher put the thought out of it's head and pushed itself to run faster, hoping to make it back to his squad before he was caught.

Unfortunately, at the speed she was gaining, that would not he happening, and the Skirmisher knew this. Taking a drastic plan of action, the Skirmisher hopped and went into a powerful slide, turning sideways and pulling out it's Needler while activating the wrist-shields. He wasn't going down without a fight.

The mare saw the inevitable barrage of pink coming and quickly slid to a halt as well, then ducked low to avoid the needle as they sailed by, staring in awe at the beautiful pink trail they left. With both of them at a complete halt, they had no choice but to stare each other down. Of course, as the Skirmisher already had his finger on the trigger, the odds were favoring him. He could qickly riddle her with needles if she so much as twitched, if he wanted. The mare, though, didn't see it this way.

She slowly raised her stance, giving the Skirmisher a non-threatening stare as she reached for both Spikers. The Skirmisher was wary of her actions and started to depress the trigger, just in case. Thankfully, she removed her weapons and laid them on the ground, raising her hooves above her head with a curious stare. The Skirmisher returned it with a stare of confusion, especially when she brought her hooves into what looked like a fighting stance, putting a wry grin on yer lips. To top it off, she gestured for him to fight her.

The Skirmisher knew accepting this challenge was a bad idea...no, scratch that. A TERRIBLE idea...but...something told him to act otherwise as he tossed his Needler away and gave a chirp of acceptance, preparing himself for whatever the mare had to offer. Either he'd successfully fight her off here and return to his squad ad request to be sent home IMMEDIATELY, or he'd become her next meal...judging by the look of insane playfulness on the ebony mare's excited face...it was leaning more towards the second outcome.

Christmas (and flash-forward foreshadow) Special!

Ahhhh...Christmas! It's around Christmas time when everyone and everypony just can't help but being...happy and content. Friendships and family bonds are all that matters!...along with the presents, of course. Even those that don't celebrate Christmas get into the mood of the holidays!...mostly because their own religions celebrate similar holidays around the same time, BUT...it still stands that this time of years is one of the BEST times of year! New years time is best time.

Don't believe me? Well take a look at Crimson team! They're filled with probably those least likely to enjoy ANY holiday, yet, for the past couple of years of their service as a full team, they've ALWAYS taken part in the festivities. Their most moody of members, Artemis, would even host and run the whole thing if she was allowed!...but this year...it would be the entirety of Crimson Team, plus Princess Luna, which would host the party, except this time, it wasn't only to celebrate...but also to remember.

"God damnit Halsey! Give me my Rookie back!" Reyna growled impatiently, tapping her foot and staring at her watch, "And Luna! Where'd she go!?" Reyna sighed, rubbing her temples to try and calm down, "Jesus...why'd I agree to this?" she turned her head and looked to the small alter which she was about to reveal to the rest of the partygoers just beyond the red curtain she stood beside. On the alter was a tattered, burnt, and broken Spartan-IV helmet; it's visor was cracked in many places, giving it the appearance of a spider web. Beside this...was a picture frame. Reyna just stared at it...thinking deeply about the pony inside and her creepy, yet comforting smile.

"Oi! Oi! Reyna! I'm 'ere!"

Reyna spun around to see her pony comrade, Pip, charging down the hall towards her. It was one of those rare times he wasn't wearing his armor, either.

"Finally! How long did she expect to keep you in that debriefing room?" Reyna asked, returning to reality.

"Who knows?" Pip responded, "She always wan's ta re'ord everything..."

Reyna rolled her eyes, waving his statement off, "Whatever...do you know if Luna will be back?" Pip shrugged, "Ugh, I knew she shouldn't have been part of the debrief...I have a feeling there's more to all this stuff than Halsey is saying. She's never been good at being truthful, or even at following regulation..."

"Hey! Sis! All the stage effects are set-up on my end!" the two comrades looked up to see their third partner, Reyna's sister, Ryan, on a scaffolding above them, "We ready to go?"

"No!" Reyna shouted up, "Luna's not here yet."

"Damnit..." Ryan leaned against the guardrail of the scaffold, grabbing and toying with a screw on his right arm, "Hope's she's okay..."

Reyna noticed what he was doing and scowled, throwing the pencil she was holding up at him, "Stop messing with your fucking arm! Do you remember how much that thing COST!?" the order was driven home as the eraser end of the pencil hit him square in the forehead.

"Gah! Jesze! Okay! Sorry!" Ryan backed away, making his way to the manual stage lights so he could get ready for the start of the party.

"God...He loves that new arm of his, but he doesn't take care of it correctly..." Reyna rolled her eyes, hacking her head in dismay, "He's such a kid..."

"Who is?"

Again, the two looked to the direction the new voice came from to see Luna standing in the doorway opposite to the one Pip had came from.

"Luna!" both shouted happily.

"Haha, why are you so happy to see me, my faithful warriors?" asked the blue Goddess.

"We coul'nt star' wi'out you, Princess!" Pip shouted, "You're the star o' th' show!"

"That and...I thought you weren't going to come, honestly..." Reyna added sadly, "I saw you run off hastily a while ago."

Luna looked down in embarrassment from being caught, but then cheered up quickly and returned Reyna's stare with a bright smile, "She would never let me live it down if I missed this, so neither would I."

Both Reyna and Pip grinned, nodding, "Alright! Time to get this started!" Reyna motioned for both Pip and Luna to follow, dashing to the center of the stage, "Luna! Ready for your introductory speech?"

Luna quickly trotted over, Pip right beside her, and nodded, "I am ready."

"Good." Reyna looked up again and saw Ghost staring down at them, "Ready to go!" Reyna shouted to her brother, giving him a thumbs up.

Ryan nodded before stepping back and activating the automated controls for most of the stage equipment, which he pre-programmed for the show, on his tablet. Reyna, Pip, and Luna all prepped themselves for giving the other soldiers a good show as the curtains allowed light to start flooding the stage, along with the cheers of the awaiting crowd.

Reyna put on a huge grin as she stepped forwards first, turning the mic headset on and waving, "Heeeey everybrony! Reyna 'Widow' Smith here! And it is MY honor of welcoming all of you to Crimson Team's Annual Christmas Day extravaganza!" In reality, being a co-host to a party like this (or really taking part in parties or celebrations of any kind) wasn't her thing, but...'tis the season! Plus, she owed it to somepony, "Alright alright! Calm down! Don't wast all that energy in me! After all we got THE Luna, goddess of night, to really host this whole shebang." Reyna and Pip motioned to the blushing princess, to which the crowd cheered more fervently than before, "Give it up!"

Luna stepped forward now, adding a bit of magic to her not-so-traditional-anymore traditional Equestrian Voice, "H-Hello! Thank you for all the cheers! It's very kind of you all..." Luna paused for a moment, smiling slightly as the crowd continued to cheer and shout, "But remember: You're not here for me! No...you're all here to celebrate the seasons!...and...to say goodbye..."

The crowd, at this, began to quiet down as the mood switched from festive to somewhat solemn.

"Yes...as you all know, usually my Second in Command, Artemis, would run this, but...she couldn't make it this year." Reyna explained, "I'm sure you've all heard the news, and if not..."

"Now I'm sure none of you want to spend the entire party feeling sad, so try not to think of this as a funeral!" Luna interjected, "She wouldn't have wanted that! This will be her...farewell party."

Murmurs went through the crowd. Up until this point, news of probably the most known soldier in their area actually going K.I.A. were just rumors. Plus, nobody ever thought it would be possible for HER to just up and die!

"I can see the mood was somewhat ruined..." Luna suddenly grabbed every soldier's attention, stomping a hoof and clearing her throat, "So, I guess before we kick-off the actual festivities, I will leave you with a little something a certain mare once told me: 'Whenever something brings you down, you have two options: Sit there and sulk, or get up and do something about it...'" Luna paused to see if everyone and everypony in the room was listening. Even Widow and Pip were leaning in, curious as to what she was going to say, "'Or you can just screw it all and go nuts!' I think what I'm trying to convey here is, well...screw it all and go nuts, everypony!"

Luna reared back on her rear hooves and flared her wings, signaling Ryan to start the show for real. The human did just that, too. He pressed a multitude of buttons on his tablet then allowed his pre-programming do the rest! The lights dimmed, stereos slid out of hidden trap doors, and a section of the stage started to transform, revealing a large DJ set with none other than one of their own, musically talented, ranks.

"Give it up for DJ Pon-3!" Widow cheered , raising her hands and motioning to the white-coated unicorn with hair similar to lightning and shades as black as night stationed amidst her turn tables.

Luna backed silently behind the curtains while both Pip and Widow dove off the stage to join their comrades amidst the crowd. The DJ, Vinyl Scratch, started-off her sets with a simple, yet energetic piece filled with enough heavy bass to cause a tsunami if the stereos were placed in water. All above and around her, the lights and lasers which Ryan had configured flashed and moved with the rhythm of the music. Everyone and everypony was going to party until they were purple!...er well...pin-! No wait...uhm...they would all party until they couldn't party no more! All, that is, but Luna.

She knew she should be out there, "going nuts" like she said everypony should themselves, but there was something else she had to do. She had a few places to visit; information to uncover; fallacies to clarify. She hated to admit it, but...Halsey was hiding something about the true intentions behind accepting Artemis into the Spartan-IV program, and she had to make sure that this something hadn't been the reason Her Little Stalker was no longer stalking her.

"Have fun, everypony and everyone." Luna muttered, grinning as she disappeared and dark-blue flash.

Pip REALLY enjoyed himself that night. Though he didn't really talk, still, that didn't keep him from taking Luna's advice! He danced, he played some games, and he even attained a bit of "fun time" with Cross...but once the party was reaching it's later hours (around six the next morning), many had gone to hit the sack. Though, those few who had become entirely used to the sleep deprivation remained to talk and just chill, even Vinyl. Pip, at this time, found himself sitting at a table with Reyna, Ryan, Vinyl, Aerowin-a vibrant-green Pegasus and master aeronautic pilot who often flew them to their missions-and even Agent Washington. Plus, Cross was asleep, leaning against his side with a serene and cute expression which he just found completely adorable. Of course, Vinyl had set a bunch of random tracks to play so that there was at least some kind of music playing, even though she was done her mixing for the night.

"I swear, HOW she stayed a virgin is beyond me..." Aerowin exclaimed before taking a slug of his drink, a bottle of Buck Daniels, "I mean, she definitely 'presented' herself enough times you'd think it would have just...happened!"

The group all snickered, nodding in agreement, "Yeah, but she was always just doing that to screw with our heads, you know?" Ryan added, "She LOVED fucking, in reality. But she would only fuck our minds." he concluded, nodding.

"Pffffft, so true, so true!" Widow laughed, something she had been doing much more often.

"I remember the time when I was getting my Pelican prepped for flight, to take you four on some mission, can't exactly remember which one, though, I think it was..." he suddenly realized that he was swerving off topic and quickly went to the point, "Anyway! I was in the cockpit, checking all the instruments and dials, when she walked in and offered to help. Of course, I told her that would be great, but then she started saying the most AWKWARD stuff!" Aerowin raised his bottle and waved it around a bit, laughing, "Heh, like 'So where's this pit the cock goes in?' an' 'Yeah, the thrusters seem to be working, but it looks like yours need a test run.' " the Pegasus laughed again before taking another slug of his beer and shaking his head, "The entire time she would sit in a very lewd position or lean over my shoulder uncomfortably..."

"Oh yeah, that sounds like something she'd do." Vinyl laughed, "She did something similar to me when I was configuring my sets and decks for this party last year...I will admit I was a bit dissapointed when she denied mmmeeewwww-nevermind." The DJ laughed nervously before suddenly becoming interested in fixing her mane.

"Geeze. Looks, fighting skill, and adaptability. She was sure one hell of a wom...er, mare." Washington stated, "I swear, the last time I fought against her, before agreeing to enlist as allies with the UNSC, she seemed to be trying to seduce me rather than defeat me."

"Oh yeah, she has fucked with the minds, and hearts, of probably everyone she ever encountered." Ryan pointed out to everyone else, leaning in to tell his own little tidbit, "She seduced Wash in the middle of a fight, and she groped my sister during downtime while on one of our missions." Reyna gave her brother an annoyed glared, but he paid her no mind, "She molested Aero in his own Pelican and she constantly harassed me every time she thought I grew a crush for a girl. She got Vinyl in the mood, just to deny her with a laugh, and she invaded Pip's throat with her tongue." now Pip and Vinyl joined Reyna in glaring at Ryan, "Hell, she even tried to get herself a threesome with Pip and Cross here. I'm pretty sure she was just doing it to mess with 'em, but still!" Ryan burst out in laughter, ignoring all the glares. Soon enough, though, everyone and everypony else joined him. He was right about it all, so they couldn't really argue with him about it.

"B-heh-b-but get this..." Ryan, after a couple minutes of laughter, was finally able to continue, "The person, er, pony, I should say, she harassed and molested most was actually Princess Luna! And, to top it all off, her reason was because she was head-over-hooves, deeply in love her!"

Everyone was about to laugh again, but Pip suddenly slammed a hoof on the table, narrowing his eyes, "Wha'cha mean 'was,' Ryan?"

"Wha...? Pip, she can't really have feelings if she's, you know...dead." Widow answered.

"I beg t' differ." Pip responded, "Friendship is Magic, Love is Forever." Pip, with that sudden and deep line dropped, slowly got up, lifting Cross into his hooves and beginning on his way to bed.

The rest watched him leave silently, no sound but music...

"Well..." Aerowin muttered, coughing slightly.

"I think...we should stop talking about her like this..." Reyna stated, "It's not really fair of us to just recall her oddities and make fun of her."

"Agreed." Vinyl added.

"So instead, why not recall the best times we had with her?" Washington suggested, to which the rest of his comrades nodded in agreement.

The five soldiers all sat there in silence, recalling the times the crazy, yet surprisingly caring mare had helped them or showed kindness in some way. Aerowin recalled the time their Pelican crashed deep in enemy territory, and Artemis carried him the entire way because he had broken both rear legs and his right wing. Vinyl smirked at the thought of the time when Artemis helped her build the courage to ask another mare out for the first time. Washington sighed, laughing at his memory in which Artemis went toe-to-hoof with Tex because the ebony mare didn't like the way the cold-hearted Freelancer was treating him. Lastly, both Reyna and Ryan imagined every mission, every moment that they had shared with Artemis, up until the travesty at the Rainbow Factory only a couple weeks ago.

"To Artemis." Reyna said, raising her glass.

"To Artemis." everyone and everypony else agreed, raising their own glasses.

"Couldn't stand to live with her," Ryan added, "Depressed to live without her."

The five saluted their late friend before downing the rest of their drinks, then heading off to their respective beds. Vinyl, though, had to first pack all of her equipment up before hitting the hay. Plus...she had to start getting ready for the New Year's Party only a few days later!

"Wh...what the!?" Luna stared at the now blank screen in front of her in shock. One moment, she was reading the Crimson Team bio, the next she was trying to prevent a hacker from stealing said files, and then the next every file was erased, meaning, Crimson Team technically didn't exist anymore, "What just happened!?" Luna shouted, pressing multiple keys on the keyboard with her magic, "Who just...?"

Before the files became hacked and corrupt, she caught a glimpse of some kid of side note about Artemis, separate from the one about controlling her temper. All she saw, though, were the letters D, A, N, I, and A.

"Ryan wouldn't hack into files such as these! But...who else has skill such as his...?" Luna thought out loud, "And what is Halsey going to do when she finds out these files were deleted?" she actually grinned at this thought, "Whatever she does, I know she won't be happy about it!" but quickly returned to a worried state of mind, "But still...with these files deleted...Artemis literally doesn't exist anymore..." Luna sighed, hanging her head over as she began to slowly walk out of the computer room, "Well...at least she finally got her wish." the goddess muttered, "She's no longer a part of this war...wait a moment." Luna suddenly came to a drastic realization, "She didn't!"

Pip gently laid Cross down on her sheets, taking a moment to appreciate her sound figure with a grin, then went to the computerized message board on the wall to check for any new missions or important notices impending him or his team. Tapping the center with his hoof, the screen came to life, illuminating his face amidst the dark room. After giving the screen a quick look-over, nothing new appeared to have arrived, so, with a yawn, he began his way back to the bed to join Cross.

"BL-ING! New Mail."

Pip stopped in mid step, then slowly turned to see an animated envelope appear on the screen. Wondering what the heck this message was doing here at this time of night, he trotted back and tapped the screen, the message opening. It was from Halsey...

'The buck? Wha' does she want!?'

'SUBJECT: Diana

Pip, this message is of utmost importance, and is under severe confidentiality. In fact, this message will delete itself and erase you entire current inbox in five minutes. That being said, I have a very special assignment for you. A new Freelancer has appeared, claiming the name Diana...odd thing is, though, Director Church named every Agent after a State in America, and...he never had any subject that was inhuman...save for a past farce which we already covered, but none the less...this Freelancer is a pony, which, according to all recorded information, is impossible, unless Church found his way to Equis before John did.

Pip, your primary objective, effective immediately, is to track and learn every single thing you can of this "Diana," so that we may asses where her motives lay, and how to deal with this unexpected event. You will still take part in Crimson Team's missions, do not worry, but, as previously stated, do everything you can to uncover the truth behind Agent Diana.

Oh, and, Merry Christmas.

Also, NEVER under any circumstance, approach me about this topic unless it is in complete confidentiality. You know your duty, soldier, now as you were.'

Pip almost didn't comprehend what this message was conveying, but when he tried to give it a second read, his entire inbox suddenly disappeared, leaving him with no clarifications. Shaking his head and deciding to worry about this another time, the tired warrior finally crept into bed with his marefriend. He was asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.

Vinyl finally packed all of her equipment up and was heading back to her bed, but stopped to give Artemis' memorial alter a last look.

She sighed, shaking her head, then continued on, "Merry Christmas, damn psycho, and to You, a peaceful sleep." The unicorn flipped her shades on, and began humming one of her favorite tunes.